ଗୋରଖନାଥ ଚାଲୀସା

A Hindi chalisa to Gorakhnath, and the Nath particulars are all in it: ash on the body, the horn at the throat, matted hair on the head, the split-ear rings, and the eighty-four siddhas doing him reverence. What it asks him for is what that tradition promises — the eight powers and the nine treasures in the house, and the cutting of the road that leads to Yama. Halfway through, the register changes and the verses stop praising and start commanding: hold on, hold on, stubborn Gorakh, strike and pin the enemy; move, move, terrible Gorakh, strike the enemy down. That imperative stretch is unusual in the form and is the reason this chalisa is used as much for protection as for devotion. Its last verses name the two kings the Naths claim to have carried across, Gopichand and Bharthari.