Carpatinatha is a master yogi of the Natha sect. Story of Charpatinath is shrouded in mystery.
Satyasrava, a Brahmin of Puneeta village, found a handsome baby in a lonely place while collecting darbha grass. He hesitated to touch it. Then the divine sage, Narada, in the guise of a Brahmin, narrated the heavenly origin of the baby and handed it over to him. Narada also said that the child should be named Carpata.
Satyasrava and his wife Chandra reared the boy, performed his thread ceremony and taught him the sacred lore. When Carpata was 12 years old, Narada came back and requested Dattatreya at Badarikashrama for this initiation. Dattatreya agreed but on the condition that the boy must leave the house.
Narada then in the guise of a Brahmin student stayed at Satyasrava’s house and succeeded in bringing about a quarrel between the father and the son. Carpata left the house in anger. Narada again met him later and took him to Badarikashrama. He was duly initiated and was invested with all the secret knowledge of the Natha sect. He was forced to fight with Indra and other gods. He defeated them all with a secret weapon vatakarshana (snatching the breath), not know even to gods. Brahma intervened and brought the conflict to an end.
A book titled Carpati Sabdi is attributed to him. He gives the illustration of water and ripples while speaking about the Absolute and the Creation thereby alluding to the unity of the Absolute and the Individual Soul.
According to the Natha tradition, most of the nine master yogis have become invisible, but Carpatinatha, along with two others, is still believed to be secretly moving about on earth.