Song of Manik Chandra

Traditional Bengali song describing the
adventures of the mythical king Manik
Chandra, his wife Mayana, and their son
Gopi Chand; the latter figures are the
primary characters, since Manik
Chandra dies early in the story. The text
is a romance but also contains many of
the doctrines associated with the
Nathpanthi ascetics. In particular,
Queen Mayana has power over Yama
(death personified), which was one of
the primary aims of the Nathpanthi
ascetics. Furthermore, she acquired this
power through the spiritual instruction
given by her guru Gorakhnath, the
Nathpanthi founder.
Her power over death is shown in
various ways. When her husband dies,
Mayana descends to Yama’s realm and
physically abuses both Yama and his
minions. In his flight Yama changes into
various forms to escape Mayana’s wrath,
but she is never deceived and continues
to harass him. On other occasions, she
shows her power over death by her
inability to be killed. She mounts her
husband’s funeral pyre, and although
the fire burns for seven days and nine
nights, not even her clothing is
scorched. Many years later, Mayana survives seven fearsome ordeals, such
as boiling in oil. When asked how
she acquired these magical arts, she
replies that Gorakhnath himself taught
her. The appearance of such ideas in
an essentially popular tale shows how
deeply these ideas had sunk into the
popular mind.