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of Gorakhnath, both Maynamati and Gopichandra cannot belong to a period much later than the eleventh century.
Gopichandrer Gan has been published by the Calcutta University with two different renderings, one by a Hindu, the other by a Mohammedan. From Dacca, Dr. N, K. Bhattasali published two books under the caption Gopichadrer Git and Maynamatir Gan. Sivachandra Sil published Govindachandrer Git, but Govindachandra is the same as Gopichandra.
These books, however, have all been written at a much later date, in about the 17th and 18th centuries. Gopichandra can be placed in the 12th century or earlier from the facts of Maynamati being Gorakh's disciple and Ha!ips being the guru of Gopichandra. We have already discussed the relationships between Gorakh, Maynamati and Hadipa in the legends concerning them. The Pala dynasty also came to an end in the twelfth century; Gopichandra and his father were contemporaries of the Pala kings.
The Historicity of Bhartrhari, Jalandharnath
Jnanesvar and Ganmbhirnath
Bhartrhari, who was once a king, became a Yogi. In Maharastra a drama has been written in ]904 A. D. which is known as Bhartrhari Nirveda. Gray published it in an American Journal. Bhartrhari is supposed to be the king of Ujjain. But the Maharaja of Alwar who is interested in the story of Bhartrhari, failed to gather correct information from Ujjain. Moreover, it is said that Bhartrhari and Vikram were brothers, and Bhartrhari abdicated in favour of Vikram. Who is this Vikram? If it is the Vikramaditya, who was defeated by Salibahan, in whose name an era was established (1872 = 1951 A. D.) we arrive at an impossible conclusion. We have no intention of placing Gorakhnath in the first century. If we accept Vikramaditya as Chandragupta II. of Ujjain, who ruled from 1076 to 1126 A. D., we may arrive at a probable conclusion and place Bhartrhari before the end of the eleventh century. The death of his devoted wife Rani Pingala made him accept the discipleship of Gorakhnath. This also corresponds to the date we have accepted for Gorakhnath, i.e., the eleventh century.
