Adinath

The first Guru to teach the Nath doctrine is considered to be Shiva in the form of Adinath. Name Adinath means "the first Nath (Lord)" in Sanskrit. Being the source of all knowledge of yoga and tantra, he passed on the secret truths to his disciple Matsyendranath, who, in turn, initiated Gorakshanath into them. Shiva originally has no form, he is often identified with emptiness or boundless light (prakasa), he is chit-shakti, or unlimited consciousness. Naths worship Shiva in the form of Adinath, who is Jyoti-svarupa, the essence of spiritual light.

Adinath is associated with a story that is somewhat similar to the early Vedic descriptions of the creation of the universe.

Adinath emerged from the void, 'shunyata.' Shiva Adinath's Shakti is Ketaka, who has manifested Brahma from the mouth, Vishnu from the forehead, and Shiva from the yoni. Legend has it that Adinath decided to test these Trinity of Gods and turned himself into a corpse floating on water. Brahma saw him and pushed him away with his foot, Vishnu simply stepped aside, and Shiva took him in his arms to be cremated later. During the cremation, the four most famous Nathas emerged from the smoke emanating from Adinath's body parts: Jalandharath from his bones, Gorakshanath from his hair, Matsyendranath from his navel, and Chauranginath from all parts of his body. But all of them, except Gorakshanath, failed Maya’s test, which is why vairagya is the primary thing that subsequently distinguished a yogi from a non-yogi. Detachment is one of the fundamental qualities of God.

Adinath was Shiva himself, known as Rudra. Adinath's Ketaka and Gauri are one Shiva’s Shakti. "Keta" signifies desire, will of Parameshvara Adinath. The eternal Nija-Shakti is often associated with Ketaka.

In India, many people believe that Adinath was a historical figure who lived a little earlier than Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath. Adinath is depicted, like all Nath Siddhas, in the human form of a yogi. Among Naths, as in Tantric Buddhism, teachers are traditionally associated with the gods, and Guru-yoga has special significance. Therefore, many teachers are portrayed as one or another incarnation of deities of the Indian pantheon.

It is no coincidence that many Nath texts include "Hatha-Yoga pradipika", "Gheranda Samhita", "Ratnavali", etc. – introduce a list of Nath teachers and their glorification at the very beginning. This veneration of teachers is similar to the worship of bodhisattvas in Buddhism.

In the Vedic tradition, the archetype of Adinath can be correlated with the Hiranyagarbha, or sacrificial Purusha of the "Rigveda". Patanjali refers to him as Purusha-Vishesha, and Muslim Naths in Pakistan and Afghanistan consider Adinath to be Adam, one of the first five prophets, i.e., the first human being. Adinath for them is Adipurusha, "the first man". Jains consider Adinath to be the first tirthankara. Each of the well known traditions had its own Naths, for example, in Vaishnavism – Jagannath and Jnaneshvarnath, in Shaiva-siddhanta — Nandinath, and the Virashaivas had Allamanath. The Naths themselves, as mentioned above, believe that the Tradition goes back to Adinath, and even more: that he existed before Shiva, and Shiva manifested from him along with the other Deities.