Goraksha (Gorakhnath): The Yogi Behind Hatha Yoga

Goraksha (Sanskrit: Gorakṣa, also Gorakshanatha, or Gorakhnath in Hindi) was a medieval Indian yogi, remembered as the disciple of Matsyendranath and the founder of the Nath order of yogis. Hatha yoga texts name him among its first teachers, and several early works on hatha yoga carry his name. Most historians place him somewhere between the 11th and 13th centuries, though no one knows the exact dates.

What does the name Goraksha mean?

The name joins two Sanskrit words:

• Go (गो): cow. In older Sanskrit it can also mean the earth, light or the senses.
• Raksha (रक्ष): protector, one who guards.

Read literally, Goraksha means "protector of cows." Cows are sacred in Hindu culture, and Shiva, the god the Nath yogis worship, is called Pashupati, lord of animals. Some teachers read go as the senses instead, which makes Goraksha "the one who guards the senses." That reading suits a yogi. It is an interpretation, not the standard translation.

The suffix natha means lord or master. Every member of the Nath order carries it: Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, Jalandharnath.

Who was Goraksha?

Almost everything we know about his life comes from legend, written down centuries after he lived. The stories agree on a few points. Goraksha was a wandering yogi. His teacher was Matsyendranath, whose name means "lord of the fish." And the student became more famous than his teacher.

The best known story is how Matsyendra got his name. Shiva was teaching yoga to Parvati by the sea. A fish, or in some versions a man inside a fish, overheard the whole teaching. That listener became Matsyendra, in the Nath telling the first human to receive yoga from Shiva. The seated twist Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose) is named after him.

A second story explains Goraksha's own birth. Matsyendra gave a childless woman some sacred ash and promised her a son. She doubted him and threw the ash on a dung heap. Twelve years later Matsyendra came back, called out, and a boy walked out of the heap. That boy was Goraksha. The story gives him a humble start, which is why older texts, including the previous version of this page, call him "of low birth."

The third story is the one people in North India and Nepal still tell. Matsyendra fell under the spell of a queen and lived as a householder in a land of women, his yoga forgotten. Goraksha went in disguised as a drummer and woke him with a line that is still quoted in Hindi: "Jag Machhindar, Gorakh aya", "Wake up Matsyendra, Gorakh has come." Here the student saves the teacher.

His name is on places as well as texts. The city of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is named after him, and its Gorakhnath Temple is the main seat of the Nath order today. In Nepal, the town of Gorkha takes its name from him too.

Goraksha and hatha yoga

This is why a yoga student meets his name. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Svatmarama in the 15th century, opens with a list of the great teachers of hatha yoga. Adinatha (Shiva) comes first, then Matsyendra, and Goraksha is in the list. Svatmarama says the knowledge he passes on came down through Matsyendra and Goraksha.

Several texts carry Goraksha's name:

• Goraksha Shataka ("Goraksha's hundred verses"): a short early text that teaches a yoga of six limbs, from posture and breath control to samadhi. It describes seated postures such as Siddhasana and Padmasana (Lotus Pose), the locks, including Mula Bandha (Root Lock), and the channels and centres of the subtle body.
• Goraksha Samhita and Goraksha Paddhati: longer, later collections that grew around the same material.
• Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati: a text on Nath philosophy, also attributed to him.

Much of what these texts teach is still in a modern class. The idea that body, breath and the locks lead into meditation runs from them to the foundations of hatha yoga most of us learn today. The map of nadis, the energy channels, and of the chakras is part of that inheritance, and so are the granthis, the knots the breath is meant to pierce.

There is even a pose named after him. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes Bhadrasana, sitting with the soles of the feet pressed together close to the body, and says the Siddhas call it Gorakshasana. It looks much like Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose).

The Kanphata yogis

Goraksha is honoured as the founder of the Nath order, whose ascetics are also called Kanphata, "split-ears." At initiation the cartilage of the ear is split and a large ring, called a kundal or darshan, is worn through it. The order has twelve branches, the panths, and it took in members regardless of caste, which was unusual in medieval India.

Naths are known for ash-smeared skin, heavy earrings, a small horn whistle on a thread and long years of wandering. Legends credit them with miraculous powers, the siddhis. That is the part later critics went after: several bhakti poets argued that powers distract a yogi from liberation.

Goraksha and Khechari Mudra

The old version of this page said that followers of Goraksha "swallowed the tongue." What the texts describe is Khechari Mudra: the tongue is turned back and up into the cavity behind the soft palate. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes it in detail, including cutting the membrane under the tongue a little at a time to lengthen it. It is a Nath practice, and hatha texts praise it highly. They say the turned-back tongue drinks amrita, the nectar of immortality.

We do not teach it, and it is not something to try from a page. The gentle version some teachers use, resting the tongue against the roof of the mouth, is a different thing and harmless. For hand gestures that are safe to explore at home, read about the classic yoga mudras.

Where the sources disagree

With Goraksha, tradition and scholarship tell different stories. Both are worth knowing.

• When he lived. Nath tradition treats him as timeless, and some accounts put him in the 9th or 10th century. Historians, working from the texts and from temple records, mostly land between the 11th and 13th centuries. We do not know.
• Whether he wrote the first hatha yoga text. This page used to say so. Recent research, led by the Hatha Yoga Project at SOAS in London, has found earlier texts that teach hatha techniques, such as the Amritasiddhi from around the 11th century, which has no link to Goraksha. The texts in his name were written down later and probably by several hands. "Attributed to Goraksha" is the accurate phrase.
• Whether the Naths invented hatha yoga. Hatha yoga grew out of several traditions, including Buddhist and Shaiva tantra and ascetic groups outside the Naths. The Naths became its best known carriers, and Svatmarama chose to trace his lineage through them.
• Man or god. For the Nath order, Goraksha is a form of Shiva who still lives in the world. For historians, he was a real teacher whose life has been covered in legend. You do not need to settle this to learn from what the texts teach.

What we can say with confidence: the Naths made hatha yoga known across India, and Goraksha is the name they put at its centre. A guru handing a method to a student, who hands it on: that is how his practices reached a class like yours. When your teacher cues a root lock or a slow held exhale, you are using methods his tradition wrote down.

To practise the posture and breath work his tradition passed on, start with our Hatha yoga classes, or follow the ideas further in our yoga philosophy classes.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Gorakhnath famous?

Gorakhnath, or Goraksha, is famous as the founder of the Nath order of yogis and as one of the first teachers of hatha yoga. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika names him in its lineage, several early hatha texts carry his name, and the city of Gorakhpur and its temple are named after him.

Was Gorakhnath an avatar of Shiva?

In the Nath tradition, yes. His followers regard Goraksha as a form of Shiva who lives on in the world. Historians treat him as a human yogi of the medieval period whose life was later wrapped in legend.

Is Gorakhnath a Brahmin?

The legends do not agree, and several give him a humble or miraculous birth, such as the story of the boy who walked out of a heap of ash. The Nath order he founded took in members from any caste, so birth was never the point in his tradition.

What is the story behind Gorakhnath Temple?

The Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, stands where tradition says Goraksha practised. It is the main seat of the Nath order today. The site has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, and the present temple is modern.

What is the difference between Goraksha and Gorakhnath?

None. Goraksha is the Sanskrit form of the name, Gorakshanatha adds the Nath title "lord", and Gorakhnath is the Hindi form. All three refer to the same yogi.

Who was Goraksha's teacher?

Matsyendranath, the "lord of the fish." In the Nath story he was the first human to receive yoga from Shiva. The seated twist Ardha Matsyendrasana is named after him.

Did Goraksha write the first text on hatha yoga?

Probably not. Texts such as the Goraksha Shataka are attributed to him and are among the early hatha works, but scholars have found older texts that teach hatha techniques. The works in his name were likely written down by his followers.