The Nath Sampardaya [Thread].

"Nath" means master, and only the most spiritually disciplined, accomplished, and revered of the Yogis can be called as such. The Naths are an yogic ascetic tradition with direct descent from Gorakh Nath, an early 11th century yogi, who was a student of Matyasendra

Additionally, the Nath tradition has its roots in the Shaivism of Kashmir, one of the major traditions within the subcontinent that reveres Shiva as the Supreme Being. As such, the Nath Yogis label Shiva as the 'Adi Nath' - the original master.

They flourished in the northern areas of the subcontinent , particularly in Punjab, Sindh, Rajasthan, & Bengal during the times of Guru Nanak Sahib.

(Guru Nanak meets with Bal Nath Yogi's disciples. Artist unknown, last quarter of the eighteenth century, Punjab).

The Nath Yogis have a variety of different names to identify their creed, such as:

1) Gorakhnathis
2) Yogis
3) Kanphatas
4) Darsanis