ॐ श्री गुरुदेव दत्त
In the lineage of Bhagavan Babaji
Parampara
A mala is one thread with many beads. So is a lineage. Kriya Yoga is not a text that can be bought; it is a transmission, and every teacher on this page received it from the one above and handed it to the one below.
Nath Sampradaya
The order of the siddhas, beginning with Adinath — Shiva himself as the first teacher — and carried into the world by Machindranath and Gorakhnath. This mandir stands in that order, and its name says so.
Beginningless
The first teacher
Also known as Shiva, Adi Guru
Shiva himself, regarded in this order not as a deity to be petitioned but as the first teacher of yoga — the source from whom the whole line descends.
What they gave: Yoga itself, given to Parvati and through her to the world.
c. 9th–10th century
Founder of the Nath Sampradaya
Also known as Matsyendranath, Macchindranath
The first human master of the order, who overheard the teaching Shiva gave to Parvati and carried it into the world. The mandir carries his name.
What they gave: Hatha yoga and the tantric practices of the Nath order.
c. 10th–11th century
Who gave the order its form
Also known as Gorakshanath
The disciple of Machindranath who organised the sampradaya, systematised hatha yoga, and made the order what it still is.
What they gave: The systematisation of hatha yoga; the discipline of the kanphata ascetics.
Timeless
Guru of gurus
Also known as Datta, Shri Datta Guru
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in one form, and the archetype of the teacher who takes the whole world as his instructor. Honoured in the mandir's own name.
What they gave: The avadhuta path — freedom without external observance.
The Kriya line
Kriya Yoga was restored to the world by Mahavatar Babaji, the deathless master of the Himalaya, and has passed from teacher to student ever since without being written down.
Living
The deathless master
Also known as Babaji
The Himalayan master who restored Kriya Yoga to the world, and who is held to remain in a physical body still, teaching those who are ready.
What they gave: Kriya Yoga — the technique itself, given directly.
And today
Thirty years of practice, some of them in the Himalaya, and now a small mandir in Katraj where Kriya Yoga is given to whoever comes and asks for it.
