Chapter 15: Mystical Perfection: the Siddhis

(1) The Supreme Lord said: 'When a yogi fixes his attention upon Me and thus being connected has conquered his senses and breathing, he achieves the mystic perfections of yoga.' 

(2) Uddhava said: 'O You who bring all yogis perfection, kindly tell me which method is required for concentration and how these perfections work. And, Acyuta, how many perfections are there?' 

(3) The Supreme Lord said: 'The masters of yoga speak of eighteen mystic perfections [siddhis] and meditations [leading to them], with eight of them abiding primary in Me while ten manifest [as secondary] from the quality [of goodness]. (4-5) The ability to get, as for the form, into the smallest [animâ], the biggest [mahimâ] or the lightest [laghimâ relative to garimâ, the heaviest], to acquire whatever material object [prâpti], the ability to enjoy sensually whatever can be seen or heard [prâkâmya], to have the upperhand in employing the forces [îs'itâ or îs'itvâ], to be in control - unobstructed by the modes - by means of magic [vas'itvâ] and to answer to any desire that seeks [His] favor [kâmâvasâyitâ], are the eight mystical perfections, o gentle one. Know them as the ones that originally belong to Me. (6-7) In this body not to be plagued by hunger and thirst and such, to hear and see things far away, to be transported with the speed of mind, to assume any form at will, to enter into the bodies of others, to die at will, to witness the sporting [of the heavenly girls] with the gods, to be of perfect accomplishment as one likes, and to have one's commands fulfilled unimpeded [are the ten secondary siddhis]. (8-9) To know the past, the present and the future, to be free from the dualities, to know the minds of others, to check the potency of fire, the sun, water, poison and so on and not to be conquered by others are the perfections that are described as the result of concentrating in yoga. Please learn now from Me by means of which type of meditation what perfection occurs. 

(10) The one who worships Me, I who animates all subtle forms of existence, obtains the perfection of animâ [to enter the smallest] by focussing on the reality of the elements. (11) One achieves the perfection of mahimâ [to enter the greatness] by fixing the mind on the total material energy animated by Me as also on the situation of each of the material elements seperately [to be the great of the sky, the fire, the water, the air and the earth]. (12) The yogi may obtain laghimâ [lightness] by conciliating his consciousness in Me as being the subtle substance of the [natural division of] time [as the basis or primal substance] to the material elements that are there in the form of atoms [see also cakra]. (13) He who with his mind focussed upon Me narrows the mind completely down to the emotionality of the I-principle, obtains the siddhi of prâpti [mystic acquisition] by which he may call himself the proprietor of the senses of all living beings. (14) In order to obtain from Me whose appearance lies beyond perception, the superexcellent siddhi of prâkâmya [to enjoy whatever whenever] one should firmly fix one's mental activities in Me, the Supersoul that is the thread running through the greater of matter [see also sûtra]. (15) When one establishes one's consciousness within Vishnu, the Original Controller of the Three [gunas, see also B.G. 7: 13] in the form of Time, one will obtain the siddhi of îs'itvâ [the supremacy] by means of which the conditioned body [the field] and its knower can be controlled [*]. (16) The yogi who establishes his mind in Me, Nârâyana as denoted by the word Fortunate [bhagavat] and known as the fourth [beyond the three planes **], may, being endowed with My nature, obtain the mystic potency of vas'itvâ [to subdue by magic]. (17) With the mind that is pure in Me focussing on the impersonal [brahman] that is free from material qualities [transcendental], one obtains the supreme of happiness wherein desire finds complete fulfillment [kâmâvasâyitâ]. 

18) Concentrating on Me, the Lord of S'vetadvîpa, the personification of goodness, the sum total of dharma, a person obtains freedom from the six waves [anûrmi-mattvam, see also shath-ûrmi]. (19) Established in Me, the personification of the sky, concentrating on the transcendental sound present in the prâna [see 11.14: 35], the Swan is perceived [Lord Hamsa or the saintly person, see 11.13: 19] and one hears the words spoken by all living beings [dûra-s'ravana, see also divyam s'rotam]. (20) Merging one's eyes with the sun and the sun with one's eyes [thus doing so transcendentally and not staring physically] one is able, with one's mind in meditation, to see anything that is far away [dûra-dars'ana, see also 2.1: 30]. (21) Completely absorbing the mind in Me one can with the wind [the breath, the subtle air], that follows the mind to have the body focussed on Me, by the power of that meditation find the [physical] self to be going wherever the mind goes [manojava]. (22) When the mind embraces whatever form one desires to assume, may, by the shelter of the potency of My yoga [to assume any form], that very form appear that one had in mind [kâmarûpa]. (23) As a siddha desiring to enter the body of another person one must, giving up one's own gross body, project oneself into that body by, just like the wind, entering through the vital breath, just like a bee that switches flowers [para-kâya-praves'anam]. (24) With one's heel blocking the anus and carrying the vital air from the heart up to the chest and then from the throat going to the head, one should positioned at the top of the skull [the brahma-randhrena], [in order to die] give up the material body and direct oneself to the spiritual world [svacchandu-mrityu, see also 2.2: 19-21]. (25) When one desires to enjoy the heavenly places of the godly one should, situated in Me, meditate upon the mode of goodness so that one sees arrive the in goodness steeped women of the demigods in their vimânas [devânâm saha-krîdânudars'anam]. (26) When someone has full faith in Me and knows that he in Me will find his fulfillment, I who appear for the sake of the truth, he will consequently obtain what he had in mind [yathâ-sankalpa-samsiddhi]. (27) The person who came to the realization of My nature, supremacy and dominion, is someone who by no means can be frustrated because his order and command is as good as Mine [âjñâpratihatâ gatih, see also B.G. 9: 31].

(28) A yogi pure of character who by his devotion for Me knows to concentrate [dhâranâ], acquires insight into the three phases of time [past, present and future], including knowledge about matters of birth and death [see tri-kâlika]. (29) Of a sage versed in yoga whose consciousness is pacified by means of My yoga the body cannot be injured by fire and such elements, just as aquatics cannot be harmed by the water in which they live [see also 7.5: 33-50]. (30) He [my devotee] becomes unconquerable when he meditates upon My expansions that are decorated with the S'rîvatsa and weapons, flags, ceremonial umbrellas and different fans [see also B.G. 11: 32]. 

(31) The man of wisdom who worships Me thus by the process of concentrating in yoga will reach the mystic perfections as described, in every respect [according to the nature of his practice]. (32) What perfection would be difficult to achieve for a sage who in Me bent on meditation got a grip in conquering his senses, his breathing and his mind? (33) One says that they [siddhis], for the one who practices the highest form of yoga by means of which one obtains directly from Me all perfection in life, constitute limitations that are a waste of time. (34) The many perfections one in this world has by birth, by herbs, austerities and by mantras are all obtained by yoga; by no other method will one achieve the actual perfection of yoga [***]. (35) Of all the perfections am I indeed the cause and the protector. I am the Lord of Yoga [the final union], the Lord of the analysis, the dharma and of the community of vedic teachers. (36) The same way as the material elements exist inside and outside of the living beings, I Myself, the Soul, who cannot be covered [by something bigger], exist within and without all the embodied beings.'