Kaula Jnana Nirnaya (Calcutta Sanskrit Series)

nymous being applied to the same person. Besides, Akula. A. has in its colophon the name of Mīnanātha whereas Akula. B. has Macchendrapāda in its place. The two texts being only different versions of the same text we are justified in thinking that when these texts were compiled the two names were still applied to the same person.

The history of Matsyendranātha has been a knotty problem for a long time and has been discussed by different scholars without leading to any definite result. Roughly speaking, two cycles of legends are current in different parts of India—the legend of Matsyendra-nātha and the legend of King Gopichand. The legend of Gopichand has no direct bearing on the history of Matsyendranātha. It deals with the ordeals through which King Gopichand had to pass during his spiritual quest. He was the disciple of Jālandhari-pāda, a grand disciple of Matsyendranātha himself and the legend of Gopi-chand, therefore, has only an indirect bearing on the history of Matsyendranātha. The Gopichand problem has been dealt with in a very comprehensive way by Mr. Gopal Haldar in a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the 6th All India Oriental Conference. I shall, therefore, discuss here the first cycle of legends which has direct bearing on the history of Matsyendranātha and his disciple Gorakṣanātha.

(i) The Legend of Matsyendranātha as told in the Kaulajñānanirṇaya—The Kaulajñānanirṇaya, as we have seen, is the oldest available source of information on Matsyendranātha and his school. Therefore, the legend contained in it about Matsyendra-nātha seems to be older than other legends. In the 16th Chapter of the work (infra below pp. 57 ff.) the Bhairava the fearsome form of Shiva i.e. Śiva himself, while speaking of his different incarnations as Siddha identifies himself with Matsyendranātha and says—"I am that fisherman, O Goddess, I am the lord of heroes, O dear one" original: "अहं सो धीवरो देवी अहं वीरेश्वरः प्रिये" (verse 11). Further on (verses 21, 22), he tells his consort that it was he who revealed the secret knowledge to her—the secret knowledge of Kārttikeya (ṣanmukha the six-faced one) at Kāmarūpa. It was the knowledge of the Kulāgama—the Canon of the Kaulas—of which he was the repository at