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The Siddha-Siddhanta-Paddhati contains a brief exposition of the form of Yoga, which is associated with the name of Gorakhnath. As such, it is a valuable work, though cryptic in character. Except from Hardwar, as previously mentioned, no further attempt has been made to publish and preserve this original and authentic work.
In publishing this volume I have taken the MS. from Jodhpore as my model, for two reasons -
(i) as it is still unpublished;
(ii) as it contains many more details regarding the names of books of the Natha Sect, etc. than the copies from Hardwar and Tanjore.
The different versions secured of the same MS. for collation, all bearing the name of Sree Gorakhnath in the colophons, have been made use of and the variations are nentioned in the footnotes. An abstract of the above MS. was compiled by one Balabhadra at the bidding of Krishnaraja, but the date of compilation is unknown. This abstract known as "Siddha-Siddhanta-Sangraha" was published from Banaras under the auspices of the Saraswati Bhawan and ably edited by Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj, over twenty-seven years ago. Since then no further attempt has been made to publish the original. I have also taken the help of this abstract in some places.
The texts are inaccurate in many places. There are unnecessary repetitions, ambiguity of expression and frequent violation of the rules of grammar. But I have not taken much liberty of correcting them, though some corrections are given within brackets. I hope this attitudle will be appreciated by the readers and allowances made for such defects.
The Probable Dates of the Texts
The date of composition of Matsyendra's Bengali verses have been established as the tenth century A. D. According to Dr. H. P. Shastri who collected the verses from Nepal, the verses were composed in the ninth century, but authorities differ in this matter and place them between the tenth and twelfth centuries. Matsyendra's 'Kaula-jnana-nirnaya' belongs to the eleventh century; it was written in old Sanskrit, and was not strictly grammatical.
