An accomplished guru, that is, a yoga and spiritual guide, is considered essential,[3] and the Nath tradition has historically been known for its esoteric and heterodox practices.

[4][7] The unconventional ways of the Nath tradition challenged all orthodox premises, exploring dark and shunned practices of society as a means to understanding theology and gaining inner powers.

[8] They formed monastic organizations, itinerant groups that walked great distances to sacred sites and festivals such as the Kumbh Mela as a part of their spiritual practice.

[17][18] The related Sanskrit term Adi Natha means first or original Lord, and is a synonym for Shiva, the founder of the Nāthas.

According to the yoga scholar James Mallinson, the term Nath is a neologism for various groups previously known as yogi or jogi before the 18th century.

[20] Within the Natha tradition, however, it is said that the identifier Nath began with the figures of Matsyendranatha in the 10th century and his guru Shiva, known as Adinath (first lord).

During colonial rule the term Yogi/Jogi became a derisive word and they were classified by British India census as a "low status caste".

[21] The term yogi or jogi is not limited to Natha subtradition, and has been widely used in Indian culture for anyone who is routinely devoted to yoga.

The most common remaining Nath gurus include Caurangi (Sarangadhara, Puran Bhagat), Jalandhara (Balnath, Hadipa), Carpatha, Kanhapa, Nagarjuna and Bhartrihari.

[6] The Siddha tradition explored Yoga, with the premise that human existence is a psycho-chemical process that can be perfected by a right combination of psychological, alchemy and physical techniques, thereby empowering one to a state of highest spirituality, living in prime condition ad libitum, and dying when one so desires into a calm, blissful transcendental state.

The Chinese traveller, named Ma Huan, visited a part of the western coast of India, wrote a memoir, and he mentions the Nath Yogis.

[27] In the Deccan region, only since the 18th century according to Mallison, Dattatreya has been traditionally included as a Nath guru as a part of Vishnu-Shiva syncretism.

[24] According to others, Dattatreya has been the revered as the Adi-Guru (First Teacher) of the Adinath Sampradaya of the Nathas, the first "Lord of Yoga" with mastery of Tantra (techniques).

According to David Gordon White, these panths were not really a subdivision of a monolithic order, but rather an amalgamation of separate groups descended from either Matsyendranatha, Gorakshanatha or one of their students.

[34] In Goa, the town called Madgaon may have been derived from Mathgram, a name it received from being a center of Nath Sampradaya Mathas (monasteries).

[citation needed] The Nath tradition has two branches, one consisting of sadhus (celibate monks) and other married householder laypeople.

The ascetics created an oversight organization called the Barah Panthi Yogi Mahasabha in 1906, based in the Hindu sacred town of Haridwar.

Typically they also cover themselves with ashes, tie up their hair in dreadlocks, and when they stop walking, they keep a sacred fire called dhuni.

[38] [20] Those Nath ascetics who do tantra, include smoking cannabis in flower (marijuana) or resin (charas, hashish) as an offering to Shiva, as part of their practice.

[34] One of earliest known Hatha text Kaula Jnana Nirnaya is attributed to Matsyendra, and dated to the last centuries of the 1st millennium CE.

These Nath texts, however, have an overlap with the 13th century Jnanadeva commentary on the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, called the Jnanesvari.

[56] The Hatha Yoga ideas that developed in the Nath tradition influenced and were adopted by Advaita Vedanta, though some esoteric practices such as kechari-mudra were omitted.

[59] Goraksanatha rejects the traditional four-class system (caturvarna) of brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas, and sudras, which are defined by their respective qualities of sadācāra - सदाचार (good conduct), śaurya - शौर्य (bravery), vyavasāya - व्यवसाय (trade and commerce), and sevā - सेवा (service).

[60] sadacara-tattve brahmana vasanti | saurya ksatriyah | vyavasaye vaisyah | seva-bhave sudrah | catuh-sasti-kalasvapi catuh-sasti-varnah ||Good conduct signifies brahmanas, bravery ksatriyas, trade and commerce vaisyas, service sudras and the sixty-four arts sixty-four (additional) varnas.na vidhir-naiva varnas-ca na varjyavarjya-kalpana | na bhedo nidhanam kincin-nasaucam nodaka-kriya ||yogisvaresvarasyaivam nitya-trptasya yoginah | cit-svatma-sukha-visrantibhava-labdhasya punyatah ||To an eminent yogi who is ever contented and who has attained the state of bliss of consciousness by his own merit, to that lord of the yogis there are no (binding) injunctions, no (distinction of) varna, no (conception of) prohibition and non-prohibition, no distinction (of any sort), no death or impurity, nor any libation (enjoined).