By Swami Harshananda
Aṣtasīddhis literally means ‘eight supernatural powers’.
Works on Yoga describe various ‘siddhis’ or supernatural powers. Patañjali in his well-known Yogasutras has devoted the whole third chapter to describe such sīddhis, apart from parts of the second and fourth chapters also.
Of the several such powers described, a group of eight, has been specially designated as ‘aṣṭasiddhis’ or eight supernatural powers in Yogasutras of Patañjali.[1] They generally go together. Patañjali himself administers a warning that these powers are incidental in spiritual life and will prove to be formidable obstacles to self-realization.[2] They are :
- Aṇimā - Power to assume minute forms
- Mahimā - Power to expand to huge proportions
- Garimā - Power to grow heavy or big
- Laghimā - Power to become light or weightless
- Prāpti - Capacity to obtain even the most difficult things
- Prākāmya - Having irresistible will
- Īśitṛitva - Perfect mastery over the body, senses and, capacity to create or destroy outside objects
- Vaśitva - Full control over the movement of physical objects
The list varies from work to work. The other powers that are sometimes included (the total of course, being always eight) are :
- Kāmāvasāyitva - Power of immediate fulfillment of desires
- Prakāma- vṛiṣṭi - Power to bring rain at will
- Akṛṣṭa- pacya - Power to get crops without cultivation
- Uhā - Capacity to acquire knowledge without a teacher
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore