Zubair Qureshi
Nepal’s eminent Hindu scholar of spiritual tradition and Founding Principal, Hindu Vidyapeeth School, Dang, Dr Bholanath Yogi on Thursday spoke about the ancient Nath tradition that once had strong roots in Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Attock and many other cities of Pakistan. However with the passage of time, the followers of the Nath spiritual tradition as well as their temples disappeared and now there remain only a few remnants.
Bholanath Yogi was addressing a select gathering of intellectuals, scholars and media persons invited by Nepal Ambassador Tapas Adhikari at the embassy to meet the worthy guest and learn about this little heard-of spiritual tradition. “Naths were preachers of humanity and messengers of peace following their guru and founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement, Gorakhnath Ji,” he said.
Gorakhnath’s followers are called yogis. The Gurkhas of Nepal also take their name from this saint as Gorkha, a historical district of Nepal, is named after him.
There was a time before the establishment of Pakistan, when Rawalpindi and Peshawar were called “Cities of Naths” and in Peshawar even today, there is a Hindu temple in Jhanda Bazar, “Dargah Pir Ratan Nath Jee” named after Sri Ratan Nath who travelled far and wide in search of truth and spread the Nath message of hope, peace, humanity and truth. Dr Bholanath is also visiting the temple but he said he was not allowed to visit Tilla Jogian, which carries the imprints of Naths even today.
Dr Bholanath named a number of places and cities which according to him were home to Naths.
Nath tradition, the Hindu scholar said, is more than 2,000 years old and the disciples are spread across the continent.
The word ‘Nath’ carries along a spiritual, saintly connotation given to man by the Lord, he said. On this occasion, one of the participants, an acclaimed scholar and former Chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) Dr Yousuf Khushk recited a couplet by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a mystic poet of Sindh.
In the couplet, Bhittai uses the word ‘Nath’ for the human being who attains a kind of spiritual eternity.
The word ‘Nath’ therefore is not new and our mystic poets were well aware of it, he said. Nepal, in the words of Dr Bholanath, is an old and close friend of Pakistan despite the fact it doesn’t share borders with Pakistan as it does with China or India but we have been actively engaged in a number of joint ventures and the Nepali people have great respect for the Pakistanis.
All the religions—Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism and others—seek truth, love and peace. If we adopt this golden principle there would be no bloodshed as we are witnessing in Gaza or other parts of the world, he said.
Earlier, while introducing the guest, Ambassador Adhikari said Dr Bholanath was in Lahore recently to attend the 6thh international conference on World Religions by Minhaj University and he requested him to visit Islamabad also and meet the local journalists here.
