natha

Natha is a Sanskrit term meaning lord or master, used historically as an honorific for spiritual teachers. In Hinduism and related tantric and yogic traditions, Natha refers to practitioners and lineages collectively known as the Natha tradition or Nath Sampradaya. The movement emerged in medieval India and draws on Shaiva, Tantric, and yogic ideas, with a strong emphasis on the guru–disciple relationship and the practice of yoga as a path to spiritual realization.

The most famous figures in the Nath tradition are Matsyendranath, traditionally considered the founder, and his disciple Gorakhnath, who are said to have systematized hatha yoga and related practices. Nath literature and later yogic texts describe techniques such as asanas, breath control (pranayama), meditation, and the cultivation of inner powers, with the aim of liberation and union with the divine. The tradition influenced many monastic orders and devotional movements in northern India and Nepal, and its ideas helped shape later hatha and tantric yoga schools, including texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Beyond the religious movement, Nātha/Natha serves as an honorific used for gurus or saints in Sanskrit literature, and as a personal name or surname in various Indian communities. In some regions, Nathas are associated with ascetic or yogic communities and feature in local folklore and temple networks.