Nath Literature in Bengali

Nath Literature is based on Nath cult. There are two types of Nath Literature: didactic and narrative. The first fable is that of Minanath and his disciple Goraksanath. The other fable is that of Maynamati and her son Govindachandra. Saint Haripa`s is the saint whose miraculous powers are displayed in the Maynamati-Govindachandra fable. The fable of Minanath and Goraksanath has been the theme of several poems entitled Mina-chetan and Goraksa-vijay by Kavindra Das, Sekh Fayzulla and others.

Sekh Fayzulla is the most important among these poets. Minanath acquired the supreme knowledge by overhearing a profound spiritual discourse that Lord Siva provided to his wife Parvati. There are several poems that have been composed on the fable of Maynamati and Govindachandra. The oldest is Durlabh Mallik who lived in west Bengal in the eighteenth century. The poems by Bhavani Das and Sukur Mamud were written in the nineteenth century.

The Didactic literature was in the form of doha, prahelika where privacy was observed by using several code words and sentences. Instructive verses by Kanupa and Jalandharipa are found in Charyagitikos. Others are included in collections such as Goraksa-Sanghita and Yogachintamani. Goraksanath`s compositions were oral.

Narrative literature was based on legends and stories centering the siddhas, the aim of which was to attract people to the cult. The most popular of these tales and legends was goraksavijay. Raja Manik Chandrer Git, Maynamatir Gan, and gopichandrer gan are different versions of the identical story.

Goraksa-Vijay is a tale that is based on the contrast between Goraksanath, the perfect yogi, and his guru Minanath who drifted from the right path. Maynamati-Gopichandrer Gan is the story of Queen Maynamati and her husband, Manik Chandra. They propagate yoga-guidelines. Seventeen versions of the former are extant in Bengal. It is believed that three writers have written versions of Maynamati-Gopichandrer Gan.