South Asia Multidisciplinary

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Vronique Bouillier

Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

Vronique Bouillier

Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

1

Nth Yogs are rarely mentioned in the Indian press. However, during the last days of
September 2014, the Gorakhpur monastery (Uttar Pradesh) and its mahants made front page
news. First, the mahant Avaidyanth, known for his leadership in the Rm janma bhmi
movement, passed away; then a crowd of political leaders from the Hindu right attended the
enthronement of his successor, Adityanth. Adityanth, the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini,
a youth movement which was very active in the communal riots of 2007, is now facing a FIR
(First Information Report). This procedure was initiated by the Election Commission, because
of the hate speeches Adityanth delivered during the September 2014 bypoll campaign, and
which were aimed at Muslims and their so-called love-jihad (allegation that Muslim youths
lure Hindu girls into relationships for conversion).2 While links between the Nth Yogs
and political decision-makers are not necessarily a new phenomenon,3 the Hindutva and antiMuslim turn of the important monastery of Gorakhpur are not in line with Nth tradition.
The Nth Yogs constitute an ascetic aiva sectarian movement (sampradya), and they
claim Gorakhnth as their founder.4 Generally considered to have lived in the 12th century,
Gorakhnth is credited with many Sanskrit treatises on Haha Yoga, as well as vernacular
aphorisms on doctrine and practices. Even though the Nth sect was probably organised later
onbuilding upon an institutional framework called brah panth, the twelve panths and its
network of monasteriesthe Nth Yogs had a substantial impact on the pre-modern sociocultural world of Northern India and have remained active members of the community of
Hindu ascetics.
On the opposite end of the spectrum with regard to the recent trend governing the Gorakhpur
monastery, the aim of this article is to illustrate the close relationships between the Nth
tradition and Islam, and to show how the encounters between Nth Yog ascetics and Muslim
figures (be they Sufs or conquerors), as well as between both traditions and belief systems,
have had a deep impact on the Nths themselves and on their position in the Indian religious
landscape. Muslims were not always Others.
Many recent studies have documented encounters between Muslims (mainly Sufs) and
Nth Yogs from the Muslim side. Since the ground-breaking work of Rizvi (1970) and
Digby (1970, 2000)who discovered and reported on the many narratives in which Sufs
claim superiority, both spiritual and magical, over Yogsseveral in-depth studies have been
devoted to the different modes of appropriation by Suf communities of yogic texts and
practices dealing with Haha Yoga. There has been a particularly pronounced interest in the
techniques of breath control and practices related to kualin, or awakening of female energy
within the body (and parallels between Muslim and yogic conceptions of the body have been
investigated).5 My paper will consider the other side of the encounters between Nths and
Muslims, from the Nth point of view. It will look for the participation of Muslims in the Nth
Jog tradition, as Carl Ernst put it in his seminal 2005 article (2005: 38), which will enable us
to endorse Nile Greens characterization (2007) of Suf Yoga and Muslim Yogs (figuring
as a counterpoint to the Hindu Naqshbands described by Darhnhadt (2002)).
However modern historiography insists on questioning the idea of fixed ascriptive religious
identities and takes an interest in the construction of religious categories, as well as in
overlapping or shared identities.6 Various scholars have shown how our present vision of
Hinduism and Islam is the result of a long and complex historical process. They have also
suggested that the role played by charismatic individuals was essential to this process and that
religious affiliation was less determinative than personal allegiance.7
Nth Yogs contributed to this undermining of fixed categories; they blurred the borders in a
dialogical process where they combined elements borrowed from both traditions. Their mixed
references are made explicit in the description given in the Dabistn (around 1655), which
considers Yogs as able to integrate both groups: When among Muslims, they are scrupulous
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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

about fasting and ritual prayer, but when with Hindus, they practice the religion of this group.
None of the forbidden things are prohibited in their sect, whether they eat pork according
to the custom of Hindus and Christians, or beef according to the religion of Muslims and
others (translation provided in Ernst 2005: 40).
They even went so far as to claim in some of their sayingsas we shall seethat they were
neither Muslims nor Hindus, but Yogs. An anecdote related by Badn (towards the end
of 16th century) makes a similar suggestion and shows how this specificity was inscribed in
space: His Majesty [Akbar] [had] built outside the town [of Agra] two places for feeding poor
Hindus and Musulmans, one of them being called Khairpura, and the other Dharmpurah. [...]
As an immense number of Jogs also flocked to this establishment, a third place was built,
which got the name of Jogipurah (quoted in Pinch 2006: 51).
This article will focus on two levels where this lack of concern for encompassing religious
labels manifests: the doctrinal vernacular texts and the Nth hagiographic tradition. In addition,
some well-known verses of the Gorakhbn will be presented, along with a translation of the
main passages of a rather surprising text edited under the name of Mohammad Bodh by
contemporary Nth authorities. This text, targeted at Muslim Yogs, will be juxtaposed with
legendary narratives familiar to a larger audience, and which present ambiguous encounters
with Muslim characters.

The Textual Tradition: Gorakhbn and Mohammad Bodh

9

The collection of vernacular poetry attributed to Gorakhnth (dating perhaps from the 13th/14th
century, although the oldest manuscript found dates from the 17th century8), and called
Gorakhbn, contains several verses alluding to the peculiar status of Nth Yogs as neither
Hindu nor Muslim, but different and superior, closer to the ultimate truth that the two other
creeds are vainly seeking. Take, for instance, these well-known passages:
- sabd 14: By birth [I am] a Hindu, in mature age a Yog and by intellect a Muslim (quoted in
Lorenzen (2011: 21), who sees a clear recognition of three separate religious traditions here);
- sabd 68: The Hindu meditates in the temple, the Muslim in the Mosque // The Yog meditates
on the supreme goal, where there is neither temple nor mosque (Lorenzen 2011: 22);
- sabd 69: The Hindu calls on Rm, the Muslim on Khud, the Yog calls on the Invisible One,
in whom there is neither Rm nor Khud (Barthwal 1994:25);
- sabd 4: Neither the Vedas nor the [Muslim] books, neither the khns nor the bns. All these
appear as a cover [of the truth] // The [true] word is manifest in the mountain peak in the sky [i.e.
the Brahmarandhra]. There one perceives knowledge of the Ineffable (Lorenzen 2011: 23);
- sabd 6: Neither the Vedas nor the Shastras, neither the books, not the Koran, [the goal] is not
read about in books. // Only the exceptional Yog knows that goal. All others are absorbed in their
daily tasks (Lorenzen 2011: 23).

10

11

12

Other verses of the Gorakhbn praise the glory of Mohammad and recognise the accuracy of
his message, such as sabds 9 to 11. Sabd 9 alludes to the pure message of Mohammad, who
revealed the proper way to love God, who never caused any violence as his weapons were
the power of the divine words of love (Barthwals commentary). Sabd 10 elaborates further:
By the sabad he killed, by the sabad he revived: / Such a pr was Mohammad. / O qz, stop
pretending / Such a power is not in your body / (in Djurdjevic 2008: 92). Sabd 11 mentions
the kalm as the eternal, immortal words of Mohammad.
According to Agrawal (2011), 20th century literary critics discovering the Hindi works of the
Nths, and especially the Gorakhbn, were quite conscious of the religious position of the
Nth Yogs. Agrawal quotes Ramchandra Shukla, claiming that Gorakhnths theistic pursuit
(sdhan) had some attraction for the Muslims as well. He could clearly see that God-oriented
Yoga can be proposed as a common sadhana for both Hindus and Muslims (Agrawal 2011:
9). Barthwal is also quoted as operating an enthusiastic reconstruction of Gorakhnth as an
instrument of Hindu-Muslim unity (Agrawal 2011: 12).
Lorenzen, drawing a comparison between Gorakhnths and Kabrs writings and positions,
stresses: In the Gorakh-bn, Gorakh [] claims the possibility of maintaining a composite
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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

religious identity (Lorenzen 2011: 49). He states: It is clear that Gorakh and Kabr rejected
both Islam and Hinduism, as commonly practiced, and sought to construct a religious identity
that allowed them to straddle both religious traditionsto somehow be both Hindu and
Muslim and neither, all at the same time (Lorenzen 2011: 20). The relationships between
Gorakh and Kabr have been extensively commented upon (Vaudeville 1974, Offredi 2002,
Lorenzen; Thukral 2005, Lorenzen 2011).9 Their ambivalence (Pauwels 2010) manifests itself
in the parallels drawn between some verses of the Gorakhbn and the Kabr-Granthval,10 or
is expressed ironically in the way the Granthval parallels the abd 69 of the Gorakhbn, but
includes the Yogs in his rejection: The Jogi cries: Gorakh, Gorakh! // The Hindu invokes
the name of Rm, // The Musulmn cries: Khud is One!// But the Lord of Kabr pervades
all (Kabr-Granthval, Pada 128, 7-8, quoted in Vaudeville 1974: 88).

The Mohammad Bodh

13

14

Resembling some verses of the Gorakhbn, a short passage in a book published recently
(2005) under the authority of the Yog Mahsabh, deserves attention. This book, written in
Hindi by Yog Vilsnth, secretary to the Mahsabh in Haridwar, is entitled r Nth Rahasya
(the secrets of r Nth) and is a compendium of mantras to be recited during specific
rituals.11 A passage in the last section of the book is entitled Mohammad Bodh, Mohammads
wisdom.12
This short passage (approximately fifty lines) is composed of verses which have to be recited
during the month of Ramadan. The text gives the following precise indications on the context:
Where you do your sdhan (practice, meditation), set out an image of Gorakhnth, a statue or
his footprints or a kala [pot] in the name of r Nth. During the month of Ramadan, every day,
after having worshipped r Nth, recite the Mohammad Bodh. Seated, say the mantra appropriate
to your posture, then the Goraka gayatr,13 then recite the Mohammad Bodh nine times. Then say
the guru mantra one hundred and eight times.
Perform this ritual three times every day, at dawn, midday and sunset. At dawn, before sunrise and
after reciting, make an offering of milk and ro (bread14), then eat it yourself. Then from sunrise
to sunset, abstain from any food or drink. At midday, recite the Bodh nine times again and set
out a fruit offering. At dusk, after sunset, recite again nine times then prepare a sweet khici [mix
of lentils and rice]. At night after the rising of the moon, eat the khici and midday fruit. During
the day, eating, smoking, and consuming alcohol is prohibited. One should eat only after seeing
the moon. Behave this way for twenty-nine days. On the thirtieth, the day of Mth Id [sweet Id
or Id al-Fir, the last day of the Ramadan], recite the Bodh only three times. Also this day, give
food and clothes as daki (ritual offering) to a faqr or a r Nth.15 Give to the poor and to
all living beings.
This way, having said the Mohammad Bodh altogether seven hundred and eighty six times [the
numerological equivalent of the Basmala, the formula In the Name of Allah], you shall obtain
what you desired (Vilsnth Yog 2005: 526-527, my translation from Hindi).

15

16

What, then, does the Mohammad Bodh, or Mohammads Wisdom say? For a Nth audience,
the title clearly alludes to the Gorakh Bodh, one of the most widely known texts attributed to
Gorakhnth. In the rendering of Yog Vilasnth, the text is highly hybrid, elliptical, probably
compiled recently from fragments of older sources. The text is in prose, but traces of former
versification remain (inner rhymes, word inversions, alliterations and phonic repetitions). Yog
Vilasnth does not give his sources, however the Hindi of the text appears to include many
vernacular archaisms.16 Moreover, he adds a translation or commentaryin Hindi and between
bracketsof the terms he considers specific to the Muslim tradition and which he leaves in
Urdu or Arabo-Persian.17
Looking closely at the text, one realises that many verses appear quite similar to Kabrs
poems. The many remarks on Kabrs language made by Charlotte Vaudeville (1959: 19-21)
and Linda Hess (1983; 1987) are equally valuable for understanding the Mohammad Bodh.
Both insist on the peculiarities of Kabrs archaic, unsystematic language forms and obscure
expressions (Hess 1987: 145). And Linda Hesss study of Kabrs Rough Rhetoric (the title
of her 1987 article) applies perfectly to the Mohammad Bodh. She insists on the mastery of
the vocative: Kabr is primarily addressing his reader, he provokes him, questions him, he
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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

17

18

19

pounds away with questions, prods with riddles, stirs with challenges, shocks with insults,
disorients with verbal feints (Hess 1987: 148). Several typical patterns depend on repetition
with variation (Hess 1987: 153) ending with a sudden conclusion or a shooting question.
The formal, stylistic similarity between the Mohammad Bodh and the Bjak is so pronounced
that they include many parallel verses, a clear indication of a shared universe which situates
the internal dimension of the spiritual quest and its unicity far from religious divisions.18
However let us note the paradoxical use of a Kabrian nirgu-style text, which serves to obtain
satisfaction of desires through ritual repetition (Having said the Mohammad Bodh 786 times,
you shall obtain what you desired).
The text begins with series of equivalences:
Salutation [de19] to the True Name, Salutation to the Guru. Om Guruji! Alh bismill (devt).20
Ram is Rahim. Om is Mohammad. The head is the mosque (mandir, temple), the skull is madr
(kom, sect or community).21 The ear is the Quran (uddh granth, the holy book). The eye is the
prophet (paigambar).22 The nose is kabar (samdhi).23 The mouth is Makk (siddh sthal, a pure
place). The hand is the Excellent.24 The stomach is hell (Agni).25 The foot is the Messenger.26 The
body is pure [pk translated by suddh]. The benefactor is God [Khud] (devt). The understanding
[akal, Arabic aql] is the pr (gur). The mind is the disciple (cel). The body is the martyr.27
Anger is forbidden [harm] (beiman y pp, indignity or sin). Greediness is wrong [galt].

20

21

Following this series of equivalences, the text offers some general advice on good behaviour,
with somewhat enigmatic allusions to local legends such as From the pot fell a fly. He took
it out and ate the food offered by the badh.
But the most interesting passages deal with religious categories or religious differences, i.e.
with Muslims, Hindus and Nths.
Think on these two words. Who is a kfir,28 who is a corpse [murdr]? We are not kfir, we are
fakr (mahtm) who are seated on the lakeshore [sarvar ke tr].29 Stand in dread of committing
theft, adultery, bad behaviour.
Worship the Awake One. People bring badness from the world. Why say kfir? Kfir is the one
who commits abuses and does not fear Allh. Do not accept money in the name of God. O Muslim,
always keep in mind the vision of death []. Never stop reciting the holy kalm (uddh prrthan,
the pure prayer).30 Do not condone evil. He who is Muslim turns away from Hell and goes to
Paradise. Thanks to Bb dam, Mohammad is born from the womb of mother Amy. From the
pot fell a fly. He took it and ate the food of the badh. He was facing the badh of the sultanate.
Bb Ratan Hj told the kalm about the Excellent. Vlaikam salm, O brother, banish darkness
from your heart. White is the dress of death. To die is to move towards God.31 In Mohammad
recognise the mother, in the accomplished man [siddhak] recognise the pr.
Where to put the feet, where the head? On this side the feet, on that side the head.32
Say Rm Khud.33 [ ] Doing haq haq (all ko pukr-prrthan karn, call to prayer to Allh),
the mull (niyamse namz pahne vl, the one who teaches prayer according to the law) spoke;
he made the call to prayer heard at the mosque. The thirtieth day of the fast, he shed blood.34 Look,
you will not even find a mustard seed. Gorakh says that God is inside every one. It is not through
ablutions [vaz] that one becomes pure; to call for prayer does not give one a good reputation.35
The Hindu prays in a temple, the Muslim in a mosque;36 the fakr prays to the One, where it seems
to be two, Bb dam and Bb Hav.37 In Makk or Madne make offerings, give the first bread
to a fakr. If you dont give bread, the vessel will split, the griddle will break. The fakr plays with
the breath of his own mind.
Hit he who calls you Hindu! Muslim is also Nth.38 In the puppet made of the five elements
[panctattva k ptl], the Invisible One plays [...].
We are born neither Hindu nor Muslim.39 Follow the six darana, Rahmn.40 We are intoxicated
with God.41 He who has killed someone has to stay away. He who takes on the name of Allh
will be like the Prophet, by Allh.
I have to repeat the kalm. Without kalm there is nothing. Look and search for what is inside the
kalm. Why do namz? Without namz, it is like standing. You keep fasting; why not search inside
yourself? You went to Makk; why not make your heart Makk?42 If, with a pure heart, you make
your home in the eye of the Immaculate Lord, then all around you will be Makk. Whom shall we
call black, white? Inside, outside, there is only one Lord [maul] (mlik). [Whatever] the face or
the appearance of the Lord, He takes all forms. The veil which concealed has been lifted. Look to

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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

whom you wish, the guru of the Hindus, the pr of the Muslims. All are fakrs of Bb dam. Burn
a Hindu stretched out, bury a Muslim stretched out. In between, prepare the seat of a r Nth.43
If one of them stands up, kick him twice.44 There are one hundred and eighty thousand sons of
Brahm and Mohammad took the name of Mtak Nth (the Lord of death). Thus, the Mohammad
Bodh ends. Sri Guru Gorakhnth, seated at the river shore in Aak,45 taught Mohammad. Hail to
r Nthj gurj. de (Vilsnth Yog 2005: 524-526, my translation from Hindi).
22

23

24

25

26

27

Muslim Yogs

Who are these Muslim Yogs who must pray in this way during Ramadan? The same book,
r Nth Rahasya, gives the list of the twelve panths or branches which constitute the sect,
then adds that some other groups have to be included, as well as some Muslim Yogs []
conjurer householder jogs, practicing magic and tantra-mantra (Vilasnth Yog 2005: 535).
They are also quoted in gazetteers and censuses,46 for instance in Tribes and Castes of the
Punjab and North-West Frontier Provinces (Rose 1919). In the section entitled Jogi, the
authors provide a sort of catalogue, which contains a lot of detailbut is quite confusingon
the various Nth branches, their traditions and legends. Among the branches they mention are
three main groups of Muslim Jogs: The Bachhowalia is a group of Muhammedan Jogis. [...]
They are chroniclers or panegyrists, and live on alms. [...] Originally Hindus, they adopted
Islam and took to begging. [...] Another Muhammedan group is that of the Kal-pelias, as the
disciples of Ismail are sometimes called. [...] The Rawals, however, are the most important
of the Muhammedan Jogi groups. Found mainly in the western districts, they wander far
and wide. [...] Their name is said to be a corruption of the Persian rawinda, traveller,
wanderer (Rose 1919: 407-408). These references are repeated by Briggs, who adds the
Jfir Prs, well known in Punjab, Kanphatas, followers of Ranjha to the list (Briggs 1973: 71).
Concerning Bengal, Dasgupta remarks how popular and common the Nth songs or versified
stories were, especially among the Muslims, a situation which gave rise to what he calls
Muslim yogic literature (Dasgupta 1973: 370).47 He adds: In the United Provinces, the Yog
singers are generally called Bharthars or Bharthars. They sing the song of Gop-cnd. [...]
They are by religion Mahomedans. They seem to be descendants of their Yog forefathers and
have inherited their Yog songs as well (1973: 369 n.2).
Going beyond these recurring but imprecise references, Servan-Schreiber was the first scholar
to conduct research on a group of Muslim Yogs, the Bhartrhari Jogis of Uttar Pradesh.48
They are musicians and singers, both householders and itinerant. They wear the garb of Yogs
(ochre clothes, fire-tongs, begging bag), except for the earrings which they dont wear, and
go wandering according to a precise and regular spatio-temporal cycle, which takes them to
Muslim shrines as well as Hindu temples. They sing the epics of the Nth tradition, especially
Gopicand and Bhathari, and contribute to the maintenance of Nth religiosity in their area.
They sing their repertoire for Shaiva festivals and for the life-cycle rituals, often for funerals
where they chant nirgu songs which stress the vanity of the world and praise renunciation.
However, being Muslims, these Jogis obey the five commands of Islamic law, and follow the
calendar of Muslim festivals (Servan-Schreiber 1999: 29). Furthermore, as Muslim fakirs,
caretakers of cemeteries or small shrines, they receive gifts consisting of money, bedding,
clothes, all of which must be given at the end of mourning or for the festival of breaking of
the fast (Servan-Schreiber 1999: 31).

Legendary Encounters

The Mohammed Bodh is relevant for a small number of specific Yogs, those who, as Muslims,
embody the openness of the samprady, and its blurred boundaries. However, more familiar
to the mainstream Nth Yogs are the many narratives which function as carriers of sectarian
identity and allow for the transmission of shared values, which are embodied by heroic or
saintly figures. Among them, some well-known heroes are characterised by a somewhat
ambiguous relation to Islam.

The blessings of Yogs

Yogs are known for their efficient and dangerous curses, as exemplified in the episode in
Ratannths hagiography where he turns all the emperors soldiers into women (Bouillier
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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

28

29

30

31

32

1998), or in Mastnths role in nothing less than the collapse of the mighty Mughal Empire,
in his interactions with the person of h lam II (White 2001: 152).
The Yogs blessings are however as much sought after as their curses are dreaded. A few
stories tell of such relationships between a Nth Yog thaumaturge and a Muslim worldly
leader. And in such stories it appears that the protection or the boon granted by the Yog
is performed irrespectively of the current religious divide between Islam and Hinduism.
Even the Muslim conquerors who have the worst reputations among the current proponents of
oppressed Hinduism have benefited from blessings given by Nth Yogs.
This act of blessing has figured in the life-story of three Nth heroes whose legends are
distinct but related, which testifies probably to a common geographical and socio-historical
background: the slow Islamisation of the North-West Indian world from the 10th century
onwards. Besides their common territorial anchorage and their initiatory links, the three heroes,
Gg, Ratan, and Buddhnth, shared a similar position with respect to their links to a Muslim
sovereign. All three secured the victory of a Muslim conqueror with to their blessings. In
the case of Gg, his encounter with Muhammad Ghuri was posthumous. The Afghan sultan
passed close to Gogamedhi, where Ggs samdhi was located, but the place was in poor
repair and Muhammad Ghuri promised the individual buried in the samdhi that he would
build a sanctuary there if he was victorious. He kept his promise but gave the samdhi the
Muslim shape it still has today.49
The legend does not mention which enemy Muhammad Ghuri wanted to conquer. Was it
Prithvi Rj Chauhan in Bhatinda? In this case, Gg would have added to the blessing already
given by Ratannth. Local legends tell of the visit paid by the Ghuri to this most revered saint
of Bhatinda in order to get the saints blessing for the war he was waging against Prithvi Rj,
the last Hindu rj of Delhi, who would finally be killed there in 1192. Even the narratives
collected among the Nth Yogs (see Bouillier 1997) insist on the protection afforded by their
saint Ratannth to an individual who would become the first of the Muslim rulers. Another
episode shows Ratan quenching the thirst of the whole army of the conqueror with the water
contained in his begging bowl in order to show the greatness of yoga to the Muslim sovereign!
In some versions of the legend, the anecdote is linked to Mahmud of Ghazni, without any
afterthought for his reputation for iconoclasm.
The third case concerns a certain Buddhnth, successor of Kynth and in the spiritual lineage
of Ratannth. Here also, the story is about a key episode of the military history of the Muslim
dynasties: the third battle of Panipat in 1761, between Ahmad h Durrn and the Maratha
armies. The encounter between Buddhnth and Ahmad h was preceded by a meaningful
episode: a group of Sayyids, who were accompanying Ahmad h, wanted to take possession
of the monastery founded by Kynth. Buddhnth was the mahant at the time, because the
monastery was locally called dargh and because its founder, Kynth, was known also under
the name Kyamuddn. The fight which followed between the Sayyids and the Yogs attracted
the attention of Ahmad h, who asked God to arbitrate: Oh Allah! Who are the true devotees?
Give me, God, the knowledge. To whom must I give the dargh? After a miracle performed
by Buddhnth, Ahmad h decided in favour of the Yogs and gave Buddhnth the title of
True Pr (Satya Pr). He then asked him for his blessing and the favour of victory in his
upcoming battle. Buddhnth answered: This God who preserved the darghs honour, your
honour this God will preserve. These words were understood as foretelling Ahmad hs
victory in the Panipat battle. Buddhnth and the Kynths dargh received generous grants
from the conqueror.50
These efficacious blessings given to Muslim conquerors by charismatic ascetics are, in my
opinion, independent of any dimension of religious identity. The relationship between the
Yogs and the Muslim sovereigns or conquerors has no ideological backdrop. Rather, it is
typical of the kinds of relationships the Yogs had always maintained with political powers:
relationships of exchange between spiritual and worldly protection, between supernatural
powers and worldly material gifts; in short, a mutual legitimation. The Muslim rulers partake
of the same universe and do not despise either the powers of the Yogs or their favours.

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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

However, the somehow peculiar status of the aforementioned Yogs may have facilitated their
recognition.
33

34

35

36

37

Yogs with a dual identity

For the purposes of this article, I will only briefly summarise the main characteristics of
Ratannth, which I have analysed in depth elsewhere (Bouillier 1997, Bouillier & Khan
2009), and which have been brilliantly described in the seminal article written by Horovitz
(1914). Ratan is known under the double identity of Ratannth and Hjji Ratan, both identities
supported by an elaborate corpus of narratives. The Muslim accounts of Ratans life make
him both a contemporary of Prophet Mohammed and an agent of Mahmud Ghaznis victory
(1192 CE), his extraordinary lifespan being a boon granted by the Prophet. His tomb in
Bhatinda can be dated back to the early thirteenth century. The Nth Yog version of the
narratives sees him as a Nepalese prince, directly initiated by Gorakhnth, and founder of a
Nth monastery in Southern Nepal. However, both sets of narratives refer to each other, with
a few Muslim versions alluding to Ratans Nepalese royal background and the Nth Yogs
glorifying his successes and his many devotees in Muslim countries.
According to the story told by the Yogs, the same Ratannth was responsible for the birth of
Kynth, having miraculously created him from the ashes covering his own body. Irritated
by this showing off, Gorakhnth is said to have banished Ratan into Muslim areas to convert
the people there. Nothing much is known about Kynth (Briggs 1938: 66), except in
the dissident Yog tradition called Har r Nth (Bouillier & Khan 2009), which locates
Kynths birth and subsequent settlement on the bank of the river Jhelum at Bhera, where
he founded a monastery under the care of his lineage of disciples, which eventually came to
include Buddhnth. Stories circulate about his death, or rather his disappearance, since both
Hindu and Muslim devotees lay claim to his remains, although only his clothes were found
to bury. Muslims referred to his sanctuary as a dargh, and called him Kyamuddn. And to
seal his double identity, an inscription on the wall states: For Hindus a gur, for Muslims a
pr We are all fakrs of Bb dam.
To take a geographically different example, let us mention Rj Bkshar and his two shrines
in Gwalior (Gold 2011). Known as bagh savrkar (hence Bkshar), the one who rides a tiger
as he is figured in the few paintings decorating the shrineshe is recognised both as a Sufi
of Gulbargha and as a Nth Yog called Caitanyanth who disguised his true identity out of
fear of Aurangzeb. And the shrines bear testimony to this dual identity even in their names:
various boards present texts and symbols that refer to the saints duality.51 This juxtaposition
of appellations and symbols shows how the worshippers, who are mostly Hindu, perceive and
respect the dual nature of Rj Bkshar, a fact also manifested in the inside arrangement of
the shrines and the performance of the rituals.

Yogs with shifting identity

The case of Gg, whose posthumous blessing I described earlier, is quite interesting because
of the casual way religious identities are handled. Gg was a Rajput hero, a Chauhan warrior
whose amorous life and victories on the battle field were in keeping with the standards of
a true Ksatriya. However, his birth was brought about by a blessing of Gorakhnth, whose
disciple he then became. Gg was a renouncer-king, torn between two worlds: the warriors
life, its duties and pleasures, and the renunciatory quest for ultimate truth. The resolution of
the dilemma happened in a strange way: he became a Muslim!
According to the story, after a bloody battle during which he was obliged to kill his own
cousins, his mother cursed him and banished him from the palace and from his wifes bed.
Forced to become a renouncer, he decided to die and invoked Gorakhnth, asking the Earth
to take him. There are then different variants: Either the Earth refused, saying she took in
only Muslims and that Gg needed to be initiated into the creed of Islam (Temple 1885: I,
208; Rose 1919: I, 179), or Gorakhnth refused to give him the samdhi gyatr, the mantra of
final absorption, because he had given him life (oral version given at the Gogamedhi shrine).
In both cases, Gorakhnth sent Gg to Ratan Baba to be initiated into the kalim (the Muslim
profession of faith), and thus to become Muslim and have the option of being buried.
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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

38

In this narrative, the kalim is presented as giving access to a death which is seen as the ultimate
step in the yogic quest, as the words samdhi gyatr suggest, samdhi being the grave of the
Yog but also the final accomplishment of the yogic path. There would be more to say here
regarding the initiation into Islam, which is not quite a conversion, the kalim being more
like an effective mantric formula. It is the Islamised Gg who is embodied in his Gogamedhi
sanctuary.52

Yogs from a Muslim background

39

One of the most elaborate stories concerns Han Bhaang (or Phaang). Published in Yogv
(1998, my translation), the publication of the Gorakhpur mah, it explains:
The Nthsiddha Han Bhaang was bdh of the Afghan country of Balkh-Bukhr. While
traveling, he reached India and the land of Tryambakevar. There he had the vision of the Nine
Nths. He took refuge in Gorakhnth and asked to be liberated from the illusions of the world. I
want to practise yogsdhan, initiate me. Full of compassion, Gorakhnth told him: you must
first stay here twelve years and do tapasy. Then you will be qualified to get dik. Relinquish all
worldly desires. At the end of the twelve years, Gorakhnth made him his disciple and gave him
the name of Mtaknth. He gave him the duty to take care of the meals. One day Han Bhaang
forgot to put salt in the dl (lentil soup) and before bringing Klbhairavs53 meal, he tasted it. The
god turned his head away. Admitting his fault, he asked for forgiveness. The Lord tied the cooking
pot around his neck and sent him away. In such a guise he went to settle in a cave in Karnataka.

40

Briggs gives fascinating accounts of the same legendary core. One revolves around akkarnth
and a low caste raja:54
akkarnth, disciple of Gorakhnth, in his wanderings, came to a land ruled by a low-caste rja,
who seized him and ordered him to cause a rain of sugar, on pain of torture. akkarnth performed
the miracle and then buried the rja alive. Twelve years later the Yog returned and found the king
a skeleton, but restored him to life and made him his disciple and cook. [] One day [the rja]
took out some of the pulse he was cooking and tasted it. Bhairom chanced to appear that day in
person and refused the food. The reason was discovered and the rja was punished by having the
pot (ha) hung about his neck (Briggs 1973: 70).

41

This oppressive rj is not presented here as a Muslim. But the Muslim reference is
nevertheless present, since Briggss narrative continues with the following mention:
Sakkarnth had no disciple, so, on his deathbed, he called a Musulman, Jfir by name, made him
his disciple, and advised him to take only uncircumcised Muslims into his following. The Yogs
are employed as Hindu cooks, and belong to the Santnth sect. The order today recognises only
Musalmns and they do not eat with other Yogs (Briggs 1973: 71)

42
43

44
45

The ambiguity surrounding the religious identity of H Varag is cleared up in another

version given by Briggs, where the name of the bdh is given as Aurangzeb!
This echoes the trend among Yogs of enlisting the greatest Muslim figures, including
Mohammad himself, as mentioned in the Dabistn (on Jogis and their doctrines): Their
belief is that Mohammad (to whom be peace) was also a pupil and disciple of Gorakhnath,
but, from fear of the Muselmans, they dare not declare it; they say that Baba Rin Haji, that
is Gorakhnath, was the foster-father of the Prophet, who, having received the august mission,
took the mode of Yog from the sublime road of true faith; and a great many of them agree with
the Musulmans in fasting and in prayers and perform several acts according to the religion of
that people (Mubed 1993: 129).
This is also the conclusion of the Mohammad Bodh: r Gur Gorakhnth, seated at the
rivershore in Attock, taught Mohammad.
The name of Mtaknth (lord of death) given to such prestigious recruits as Mohammad or the
bdh / Aurangzeb can perhaps be interpreted as an allusion to the practice of burial common
to both Muslims and ascetic Yogs. Nth Yogs, whose aim is to attain immortality, consider
the grave as a place of continuous trance, as the word samdhi (referring both to a state of
profound meditation and to the tomb) suggests. To be underground may be considered by
the Yogs as a metaphor for initiation leading to immortality: the bdh has to be cooked
underground (in Golds version, cf. note 52) before he can be admitted among the Yogs.
Numerous stories present a hero such as Gg asking to be swallowed by the earth, or staying
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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

underground for twelve years or more, and the disjointed Mohammad Bodh text introduces
the person of Mohammad/Mtaknth just after the passage about funeral practices. Burial as
rebirth gives Muslim heroes as well as Nth Yogs the power to vanquish death.

Conclusion
46

47

A text like the Mohammad Bodh, and the widespread popularity of figures such as Gg or
Ratan, reveal the proximity and easy concordance between Nths and Muslims. They shared
common references and they could inhabit the same universe. We may even think that fluid
boundaries with Islam were part of the religious identity of the Nth Yogs: firstly, their
religious identity was not homogenous, and secondly, they were not seeking homogeneity, but
rather deliberately cultivating their composite nature. Claiming to be above sectarian divisions
even superior to them in a sensethey were open-minded and inclusive.
Over the past few decades, there has been a growing distrust in India with regard to such
fluidity and mixity. Nth Yogs are not immune to this trend: the Ggs story has been
modified (cf. note 51); the writer of the iva Goraka, who is the inheritor of the mixed tradition
of the Har r Nth, now claims a santan55 identity; the Muslim Jogs have abandoned their
song tradition and are no longer welcome at the Gorakhpur monastery; and of course the same
Gorakhpur monastery has attempted to take the leadership of the samprady and enlist it in
joining the ranks of Hindu fundamentalism. However, I do hope that the regrettable conclusion
expressed by Shashank ChaturvediThe language of emancipation and liberation is alien to
this world, of which these Jogis are vestiges (2014:165)will remain limited. Nth Yogs
do not easily submit to common directives or institutions. Each of their locales has its own
tradition, and each Yog his own opinions. The heroic figures of Nth lore, with their fluid
identity, are still the common ground on which the sense of belonging in the samprady rests,
and even the publications of the Gorakhpur mah continue to narrate the stories of Han
Bhaang and Ratan. And both versions of the Mohammad Bodh (edited by Yog Vilsnth
(2005) and by Yog Saw Nth (n.d.) have been included in books published under the
patronage of the leaders of the Yog Mahsabh (the pan-Indian association of Nth Yogs).
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Notes
1 This paper was also presented at the 22nd European Conference on South Asian Studies (Lisbon
University, 25-28 July 2012) in the panel entitled Yogis, Sufis, Devotees: Religious/Literary Encounters
in Pre-modern and Modern South Asia, organised by Heidi Pauwels. Many thanks to the participants
and referees for their comments and suggestions.
2 See Srivastava (2014).
3 They have served as close advisers to rulers, especially in Rajasthan and Nepal, and a few of them
have been involved in electoral politics since the 1920s.
4 On the Nth Yogs, see Bouillier (1998, 2008). For a synthetic overview, see Bouillier (2011) and
Mallinson (2011); there is also a bibliographical survey in Bouillier (2013).
5 See Cashin (1995), Ernst (1996, 2003: 200), Bhattacharya (2003-2004), Green (2007), Hatley (2007).
A particularly pronounced combining of the two is related by Thomas Dahnhardt concerning the Hindu
branch of the Naqshband, where the first Hindu disciple, Ramacandra Saksena, made a broad use in his

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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

texts of a parallel terminology drawn from both traditions (2002: 213), in what Dahnhardt calls a true
spiritual synthesis (2002: 262), a cross-cultural sdhan (2002: 330).
6 See for instance Gilmartin; Lawrence (eds.) (2000); Gottschalk (2001); Khan (1997, 2004). Many
sacred figures of north India are endowed with a dualor even more complexidentity. Among them
is Satya Pr, the Bengali saint also worshipped as Satya Nryan (see Stewart 2000).
7 As Gilmartin and Lawrence have said: Individual religious differences between Muslims and Hindus
(as between other generic religious categories, like Saiva and Vaisnava, Sunni and Shia) were framed by
their operation within a pervasive structure of personalized religious authority. [...] This is not to say that
marks of generic Hindu or Muslim identity were insignificant. But since religious virtue and spiritual
power were embodied pre-eminently in holy individuals, religious identity was defined primarily in
relation to individual teachers, masters, or Sufi exemplars (2000: 18).
8 Cf. Lorenzen (2011: 20-21): The only decent scholarly edition of this literature is the collection
edited by P.D. Barthwal in about 1942. Many more Gorakh bn (sayings) exist in manuscripts [].
The best estimate is that the earliest surviving Gorakh bn probably date from the thirteenth or
fourteenth centuries or even later. It is also likely that they have been somewhat altered in the process of
transmission from manuscript to manuscript. The Gorakhpur monastery continues to publish editions
of the Gorakhbn that rely on Barthwals collection (cf. the two volumes edited by Rm Ll Srivstava,
published in 2025 and 2051 V.S.). See also the manuscript variants in Offredi (ed.) (1991, 2002).
9 Their legendary encounter leads to the dialogue entitled Kabr-Gorakh k gosht (Lorenzen; Thukral
2005). Near the joint Muslim and Kabrpanthi samdhis of Kabr in Maghar (Gorakhpur district), a small
sacred enclosure is said to contain Kabrs dhn where, according to the caretaker, the encounter between
the two saints took place.
10 Whatever we might think regarding the difficult question of historical influence (Lorenzen 2011).
As Heidi Pauwels has written: Although Gorakhnth undoubtedly predated Kabr, records of Gorakhbn in Hindi are later than for Kabr and may well already have incorporated bhakti elements. Thus it
is tricky to determine who reacts to whom (2010: 7).
11 Yog Vilsnth, general secretary of the Pan-Indian Nath Yogi association, whose main office is based
in Haridvar, devotes much of his time to research on Nath traditions and promotion of the samprady.
He has published many books and pamphlets in Hindi and has recently developed a network of personal
disciples in Russia.
12 A similar compendium of mantras and comments has been published in Sirohi by Yog Saw
NthSmn (undated, but including a preface by Avedyanth that is dated 2004). It also includes a
version of the Mohammad Bodh containing a few slightly different verses, but does not outline the
circumstances calling for the Bodh to be recited.
13 The text of which is given in the same manual and which begins with the same three invocations as
the Mohammad Bodh: sat namo de / guruj ko de / om guruj.
14 Ro, a thick bread cooked in the ascetic fire of the Yogs (dhn), an offering specific to the Yogs
and most often dedicated to Bhairav.
15 I.e. a Yog of the Nth sect. We should note here the equivalency between the Nth ascetics and the
Muslims Fakrs as recipients of daki, or ritual offerings.
16 Many thanks to all those who generously helped me to understand this complex text: particularly
Dominique-Sila Khan and Harshvardan Singh Chauhan, Mushirul Hasan and Abdul Bismillah, Catherine
Servan-Schreiber and Azhar Abbas.
17 In my English translation, the explanations and translations in Hindi given by Yog Vilsnth in the
text will figure in brackets. In square brackets I will (mostly) give the Urdu word as written in the main
text, and my commentary when I find it useful.
18 There is also a text in the Kabrpanthi literature which is known as Granth Muhammad Bodh, an
imaginary dialogue between the Prophet and Kabr. In a ground-breaking book published in French in
1929, Yusuf Husain included some excerpts from this text, which is quite different in style.
19 de, order, instruction, is also the common term of greeting among the Nths. In square brackets,
the word given in the text and, if needed, my explanation.
20 The formula God in the name of God (Allh here written erroneously as Alh) is explained by
Vilasnth in the text itself in brackets as devt, i.e. a god, (where we would rather have expected var).
21 The meaning is uncertain: madr can mean axis but the translation by kom, from arabic qaum,
community, could be an allusion to the tradition of Shah Madr and the Madrs, well-known for their
close relationship with the Nths.
22 The word nab, of Arabic origin, is explained by the word paigambar, of Persian origin; both are
however used in Hindi.
23 The word kabar, from the Arabic qabr, is translated here by the word used to designate the tombs
of Hindu ascetics.

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24 Hazrat, excellency, majesty. A title given to the Prophet or to the Saints, here explained as mn
mnyat dene vle, who gives value to honour.
25 The Persian word dozakh, which already means both hell and stomach, is glossed by the name of
the Hindu God of fire.
26 rasl, in Arabic messenger or prophet, is explained as the primordial book, establishing an
equivalence between the message and the messenger?
27 ahd, a well-known Arabic term, is curiously explained here using a lesser-known Arabo-Persian
term qurbn, which designates the sacrificial victim.
28 Kfir, the usual term for unbelievers, i.e. non-Muslims, is glossed here as nce karma karne vl,
the one who acts disgracefully, a moral statement reinforced in the following verses and often found
in reformist literature, for instance among Dadupanthis such as Garib Ds (1717-1778): Kfir is one
who gives no charity, / one who quarrels with the saints [...] // He who sacrifices animals. / A kfir is
a worshipper of idols // A kfir steals crops, kills the peacock, / and is addicted to tobacco and other
intoxicants (Datta 1999: 43). The play on words kfir/fakr is also quite common.
29 An allusion to the ocean of life that the fakr intends to cross?
30 kalim or shahda, the Muslim profession of faith: La-ilha ill-llh. There is no other God than God.
31 Marn hak hai jn. Haq, the True One, one of the names of Allh (al-aqq) but the gloss in brackets
is hiss, part, portion, which is also one meaning of haq but seems out of context here. The sentence
is unclear.
32 An allusion to the position of the body in the grave? In Muslim India, dead bodies are buried with the
head to the north and the face turned to the west (towards Mecca).
33 This sentence and the next are often found in Kabr. Cf. Bjak, sabda 10: one says Rm, if not
Khud (Husain 1929: 58), as well as in the Gorakhbn (sabd 68/69, cf. ante).
34 Cf. Kabrs Bjak, sabda 10: The Turk prays, fasts and says the bismillah loudly. How can he attain
paradise, when he kills a chicken every evening? (Husain 1929: 58). My translation relies on the word
khn (tison roje khn kare th), blood, killing. However Yog Saw Nths version has khb, which
perhaps allows for a joining of the two sentences: he has looked for the full thirty days and not even
found a mustard seed (r), the mustard seed being an image of the infinitesimal (cf. Kabr: He makes
the mountain stay in the mustard seed, Husain 1929: 89).
35 What is the use of performing ablutions and purifications, of washing your face? What is the use of
prostrating oneself in the mosque? If you say your prayers with a sly (deceitful) heart, what is the use of
making the pilgrimage to Kaaba? (Kabr quoted in Vaudeville 1959: 73).
36 The same statement is found in the Gorakh-bn and in the Sant tradition. See Nmdev: The Hindus
pray in temples, the Muslims in mosques. [Nmdev] follows the Name, who has neither temple nor
mosque (in Husain 1929: 121).
37 This is an allusion to the Absolute, to its Unicity in which the opposition between male and female
disappears, to form the union of iva and akt as seen by the Nth Yogs.
38 A clear affirmation that being a Nth encompasses and transcends both religious identities.
39 Here also, there are many examples in Kabr, such as: There is neither Turk nor Hindu in the mothers
blood and the fathers seed, Bijk, ramain 40 (Husain 1929: 59).
40 The Compassionate, one of Allahs titles. It is possible to read the sentence as We follow the six
darana and are compassionate.
41 The Arabic rabb (the Lord, God) is explained as plne vl khud, the God who protects.
42 It is the same in Kabr: Why go on pilgrimage to Mecca? [] it is in the heart that you must
search (Bjak, sabda 97 in Husain 1929: 60)
43 Here, the text stresses the specificity of Nth funeral practices. They are buried in a sitting position,
whereas Muslims are buried stretched out, and Hindus are cremated.
44 uske do do kutke lag djiye: I am not sure about the meaning of kutke which has been explained to
me both as a kick and as a petting gesture (pet them twice); the idea is perhaps to go against the Hindu
and the Muslim who might be opposed to the Nth position.
45 Aak (obstacle) or Attock is a natural ford on the Indus, the only place where one can cross the river.
But for caste Hindus, who are not supposed to cross the Indus at all, Attock has traditionally symbolized
this taboo (many thanks for this precision given by the anonymous referee). Gorakhnath, located in
Attock, is precisely at the border between Hindustan and Muslim lands; being symbolically in-between
two worlds, he would be Mohammads teacher.
46 The census data are difficult to apprehend because of a lack of precision in the listed categories.
The 1901 census for instance distinguishes four groups described thusly: Faqir, Hindu (436,803) / Jogi,
Hindu (659,891) / Jogi, Muhammadan (43,139) / Natha, Hindu (45,463). These data supposedly cover
the whole of India. As for Briggs (1973: 5), he states that in 1891: of the Yogs reported in the Panjab,

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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

38,137 were Musalmns (which would imply a huge drop in numbers between 1891 et 1901 for India
as a whole; but it would be more prudent to interpret these numbers as meaning that the categories are
irrelevant). For the North-Western Provinces, Crooke (1975: 63) gives the following distribution of
the Jogis according to the Census of 1891: Aughar (4,317), Gorakhpanthi (13,133), others (60,937),
Muhammadans (17,593). However, even though we do not know precisely whom and in what way they
classify, these data show how widespread the phenomenon of Muslim Yogs was.
47 See also Cashin (1995), Bhattacharya (2003-2004), Hatley (2007).
48 However, Shashank Chaturvedi has just completed a PhD entitled Religion, Culture and Power: A
Study of Everyday Politics in Gorakhpur, in which he describes the difficult situation of the community
with regard to growing regional communalism (mss. pp.162-166). See also Ghosh (2010). Many thanks
to Shashank Chaturvedi for giving me access to his PhD thesis.
49 According to one of the oral versions I collected in Gogamedhi (both in the dargh and in the Nth
monastery close by). There were also various booklets and cassette tapes sold at the site, which present
slightly different versions of Ggs story (see Bouillier (2004) for the evolution of this story after the
version collected by Richard Temple in 1885).
50 The story of Buddhnth figures in a pamphlet printed at the gurudhm ram in Delhi and written by
Pr Premnth with the title of iva Goraka (1982); see Bouillier; Khan (2009).
51 An inscription across the street reads r pr sheb rje bkar mahrj dargh (mandir). On the
shrine itself we read: r pr sheb rje bkar mahrj dargh Gwalior, and in smaller characters
underneath and preceded by a swastika: satguru caitanyanth rj bkar mahrj. However, near a
side window, we read: r pr sheb rje val dargh, written on a green board adorned with the Islamic
symbol of the star and the crescent moon.
52 However, the new booklets sold at the shrine now present a different version. Ggs becoming
Muslim is no longer emphasised, and is instead mentioned only to be strongly denied in a communalising
India. On the contrary, he is now presented as a true Hindu hero fighting cowardly Muslim enemies who
hide behind a herd of cows, which of course Gg does not attack.
53 Bhairav is often the main deity worshipped in Nth shrines. He has food prepared for him every
morning, which may include a substitute for blood sacrifice. The duty imparted to Han Bhaang is thus
an important one, especially as Bhairav is not very easy to deal with!
54 A Rajasthani version of the H Varag legend is given by Gold: the Nth guru in this case is Gehl
Rwal: The bdshh, impressed by Gehls many miracles, asked to become his disciple. Gelh agreed
with conditions. Since the bdshh was a Muslim, he really had to become pukka, fully developed,
here taken in its more etymologically precise sense as thoroughly baked. Gehl put a little unbaked
jug (h) around the bdshhs neck. When this is baked, he said, youll be my disciple; otherwise,
youll remain a Muslim. The bdshh was then buried in the earth, and twelve years later dug up; the
jug had hardened and he was renamed H Varag Nth (Gold 1999: 153).
55 From Santana dharma: eternal dharma, the modern designation of what is defined as orthodox
Hinduism, based on the Vedas. On the Har r Nth movement, see Bouillier & Khan (2009).

References
Electronic reference
Vronique Bouillier, Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam, South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic
Journal [Online], Free-Standing Articles, Online since 13 May 2015, connection on 08 October 2015.
URL: http://samaj.revues.org/3878

Author
Vronique Bouillier
CNRS Emeritus Senior Fellow in anthropology at the Centre for South Asian Studies (CEIAS),
EHESS, Paris

Copyright

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Nth Yogs Encounters with Islam

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

4.0 International License.
Abstract

Far from modern ideologies focusing on fixed ascriptive religious identities, the Shaivite
ascetic sect of the Nth Yogs had a long tradition of close relationships with Islam. This
article will focus on two levels where this lack of concern for encompassing religious labels
manifests: the doctrinal vernacular texts and the Nth hagiographic tradition. A surprising
text edited under the name of Mohammad Bodh by contemporary Nth authorities will
be presented. It is composed of short elliptical verses, which have to be recited during the
month of Ramadan and are thus intended for Muslim Yogs. However, more familiar to the
mainstream Nth Yogs are the many narratives that function as carriers of sectarian identity.
Several of them present heroes characterised by a somewhat ambiguous relation to Islam;
they may be blessing Muslim rulers or be granted a dual identity (like Ratan Bb and Raja
Bkshar), a shifting identity (like Gg), or come from a Muslim background (Han Bhaang).
In conclusion, we may even think that fluid boundaries with Islam were part of the religious
identity of the Nth Yogs.
Index terms
Mots-cls :ascetics, Shaiva, Nth Yogs, Hinduism, Islam
Editor's notes
This is a revised version of an article first published in French under the title: Dialogue entre
les Nath yogis et l'islam, in Denis Hermann & Fabrizio Speziale (eds.), Muslim Cultures in
the Indo-Iranian World during the Early-Modern and Modern Periods (2010), Berlin: Klaus
Schwarz Verlag, Institut Franais de Recherche en Iran, pp.565-583.

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