Source
Texts:
Lord
Krishna's Description of Mystic Yoga Perfections
Text
1
The Supreme
Lord said: 'The yogî who in Me fixing his consciousness,
having connected, has conquered his senses and breathing,
approaches the mystic perfections.
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead said - My dear Uddhava, the
mystic perfections of yoga are acquired by a yogî who
has conquered his senses, steadied his mind, conquered the
breathing process and fixed his mind on Me.
Text
2
Uddhava said:
'Please, You Giver of Perfection to All Yogîs, tell by
what type of concentration or in what manner one is possibly of
mystic perfection and, Acyuta, how many perfections are
there?
S'rî
Uddhava said: My dear Lord Acyuta, by what process can
mystic perfection be achieved, and what is the nature of
such perfection? How many mystic perfections are there?
Please explain these things to me. Indeed, You are the
bestower of all mystic perfections.
Text
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 and ten as [secondary]
manifesting from the quality [of
goodness].
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead said - The masters of the
yoga system have declared that there are eighteen types of
mystic perfection and meditation, of which eight are
primary, having their shelter in Me, and ten are secondary,
appearing from the material mode of goodness.
Text
4-5:
To get, to 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 thing to see or hear
[prâkâmya], the supremacy setting in motion
the forces [îs'itâ or îs'itvâ],
to subdue, 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, to be understood as the
ones original to Me.
Among
the eight primary mystic perfections, the three by which one
transforms one's own body are animâ, becoming smaller
than the smallest; mahimâ, becoming greater than the
greatest; and laghimâ, becoming lighter than the
lightest. Through the perfection of prâpti one
acquires whatever one desires, and through
prâkâmya-siddhi one experiences any enjoyable
object, either in this world or the next. Through
is'itâ-siddhi one can manipulate the subpotencies of
mâyâ, and through the controlling potency called
vas'itâ-siddhi one is unimpeded by the three modes of
nature. One who has acquired
kâmâvasâyitâ-siddhi can obtain
anything from anywhere, to the highest possible limit. My
dear gentle Uddhava, these eight mystic perfections are
considered to be naturally existing and unexcelled within
this world.
Text
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 to
one's determination, and to have one's commands fulfilled
unimpeded [are the ten secondary
siddhis].
The
ten secondary mystic perfections arising from the modes of
nature are the powers of freeing oneself from hunger and
thirst and other bodily disturbances, hearing and seeing
things far away, moving the body at the speed of the mind,
assuming any form one desires, entering the bodies of
others, dying when one desires, witnessing the pastimes
between the demigods and the celestial girls called
Apsarâs, completely executing one's determination and
giving orders whose fulfillment is unimpeded.
Text
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 also said to be illustrative for
the concentrating in yoga; please learn now from Me by which
means of meditation what perfections occur.
The
power to know past, present and future; tolerance of heat,
cold and other dualities; knowing the minds of others;
checking the influence of fire, sun, water, poison, and so
on; and remaining unconquered by others - these constitute
five perfections of the mystic process of yoga and
meditation. I am simply listing these here according to
their names and characteristics. Now please learn from Me
how specific mystic perfections arise from specific
meditations and also of the particular processes
involved.
Text
10
The worshiper
of Me animating all subtle forms of existence, obtains the
perfection of animâ [to enter the smallest] by
concentrating the mind on that reality of the
elements.
One
who worships Me in My atomic form pervading all subtle
elements, fixing his mind on that alone, obtains the mystic
perfection called animâ.
Text
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, depending the particular situation, on each of the
material elements individually [to be the great of the sky,
the fire, the water, the air and the earth].
One
who absorbs his mind in the particular form of the
mahat-tattva and thus meditates upon Me as the Supreme Soul
of the total material existence achieves the mystic
perfection called mahimâ. By further absorbing the
mind in the situation of each individual element such as the
sky, air, fire, and so on, one progressively acquires the
greatness of each material element.
Text
12
The yogî
may obtain laghimâ [lightness] by conciliating
his consciousness in Me as being the subtle substance of the
[natural division of] time to the material elements
that are there in the form of atoms [see also
cakra].
I
exist within everything, and I am therefore the essence of
the atomic constituents of material elements. By attaching
his mind to Me in this form, the yogî may achieve the
perfection called laghimâ, by which he realizes the
subtle atomic substance of time.
Text
13
He who with his
mind fixed in Me concentrates the mind completely within the
emotional of the I-principle, obtains the siddhi of
prâpti [mystic acquisition] in proprietorship of
the senses of all living beings.
Fixing
his mind completely in Me within the element of false ego
generated from the mode of goodness, the yogî obtains
the power of mystic acquisition, by which he becomes the
proprietor of the senses of all living entities. He obtains
such perfection because his mind is absorbed in Me.
Text
14
To obtain from
Me whose appearance lies beyond perception, the superexcellent
siddhi of prâkâmya [to enjoy whatever or
whenever] should one fix one's mental activities in Me as
the Supersoul that is the thread in the greater of matter
[see also sûtra].
One
who concentrates all mental activities in Me as the
Supersoul of that phase of the mahat-tattva which manifests
the chain of fruitive activities obtains from Me, whose
appearance is beyond material perception, the most excellent
mystic perfection called prâkâmya.
Text
15
If one
concentrates the consciousness within Vishnu, the Original
Controller of the Three [gunas, see also B.G.
7:
13] in the
form of Time, will one obtain the siddhi of îs'itvâ
[the supremacy] to incite the conditioned body [the
field] and its knower [*].
One
who places his consciousness on Vishnu, the Supersoul, the
prime mover and Supreme Lord of the external energy
consisting of three modes, obtains the mystic perfection of
controlling other conditioned souls, their material bodies
and their bodily designations.
Text
16
The yogî
placing the 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].
The
yogî who places his mind in My form of
Nârâyana, known as the fourth factor, full of
all opulences, becomes endowed with My nature and thus
obtains the mystic perfection called vas'itâ.
Text
17
With the mind
pure in Me concentrating in the impersonal [brahman]
free from material qualities, obtains one the supreme of
happiness wherein desire finds complete fulfillment
[kâmâvasâyitâ].
One
who fixes his pure mind on Me in My manifestation as the
impersonal Brahman obtains the greatest happiness, wherein
all his desires are completely fulfilled.
Text
18
Concentrating
the consciousness in Me, the Lord of
S'vetadvîpa,
the personification of goodness, the sum total of dharma,
obtains a person freedom from the six waves
[anûrmi-mattvam, see also shath-ûrmi].
A
human being who concentrates on Me as the upholder of
religious principles, the personification of purity and the
Lord of S'vetadvîpa obtains the pure existence in
which he is freed from the six waves of material
disturbance, namely hunger, thirst, decay, death, grief and
illusion.
Text
19
In Me, the
personification of the sky, with one's mind concentrating on
the transcendental sound in the prâna [see
11.14:
35], is
there perceived the Swan [Lord Hamsa or the saintly person
11.13:
19] and
hears one the words spoken by all living beings
[dûra-s'ravana, see also divyam
s'rotam].
That
purified living entity who fixes his mind on the
extraordinary sound vibrations occurring within Me as the
personified sky and total life air is then able to perceive
within the sky the speaking of all living entities.
Text
20
Merging one's
eyes with the sun and the sun with one's eyes [thus doing
so transcendentally and not staring physically] sees one,
with one's mind in meditation, any distant thing
[dûra-dars'ana, see also 2.1:
30].
Merging
one's sight into the sun planet and then the sun planet into
one's eyes, one should meditate on Me as existing within the
combination of sun and vision; thus one acquires the power
to see any distant thing.
Text
21
Completely
absorbing the mind in Me will one by the wind [the breath,
the subtle air], that follows the mind to have the body
focussed on Me, as a consequence find the self to be going
wherever the mind goes [mano-javah].
The
yogî who completely absorbs his mind in Me, and who
then makes use of the wind that follows the mind to absorb
the material body in Me, obtains through the potency of
meditation on Me the mystic perfection by which his body
immediately follows his mind wherever it goes.
Text
22
When the mind
embraces whatever form one desires to assume, may, with the
power of My yoga [to assume any form] as the shelter,
that very form appear that one had in mind
[kâmarûpa].
When
the yogî, applying his mind in a certain way, desires
to assume a particular form, that very form immediately
appears. Such perfection is possible by absorbing the mind
in the shelter of My inconceivable mystic potency, by which
I assume innumerable forms.
Text
23
As a
siddha
desiring to enter another's body must one, giving up one's own
gross body, imagine [project] oneself in that body just
like the wind entering by the vital breath alike a bee
switching flowers
[para-kâya-praves'anam].
When
a perfect yogî desires to enter another's body, he
should meditate upon himself within the other body, and
then, giving up his own gross body, he should enter the
other's body through the pathways of air, as easily as a bee
leaves one flower and flies into another.
Text
24
With one's heel
blocking the anus and carrying the vital air from the heart up
to the chest and from the throat to the head, should one
positioned at the top of the skull [the brahma
randhrena], giving up the material body [to die],
lead oneself to the spiritual world
[svacchandu-mrityu,
see also 2.2:
19-21].
The
yogî who has achieved the mystic perfection called
svacchandu-mrityu blocks the anus with the heel of the foot
and then lifts the soul from the heart to the chest, to the
neck and finally to the head. Situated within the
brahma-randhra, the yogî then gives up his material
body and guides the spirit soul to the selected
destination.
Text
25
Desiring
to enjoy the places of pleasure of the godly should one
situated in Me meditate the mode of goodness and then see the
by the goodness existing women of the demigods arrive by their
vimâna
[devânâm
saha-krîdânudars'anam].
The
yogî who desires to enjoy in the pleasure gardens of
the demigods should meditate on the purified mode of
goodness, which is situated within Me, and then the heavenly
women, generated from the mode of goodness, will approach
him in airplanes.
Text
26
When
a man has full faith in Me or by means of his mind is of
resolve in Me who am there to be true, will he obtain that way
that what he set his mind to
[yathâ-sankalpa-samsiddhi].
A
yogî who has faith in Me, absorbing his mind in Me and
knowing that My purpose is always fulfilled, will always
achieve his purpose by the very means he has determined to
follow.
Text
27
The
person who achieved from the nature of Me, the Supremacy and
the Dominion, is someone who no way can be frustrated as his
order and command is as good as Mine
[âjñâpratihatâ
gatih, see
also B.G. 9.31].
A
person who perfectly meditates on Me acquires My nature of
being the supreme ruler and controller. His order, like
Mine, can never be frustrated by any means.
Text
28
Of a yogî
pure of character who by devotion to Me knows to concentrate
[dhârana]
is there the intelligence to the three phases of time,
including that of birth and death [see tri-kâlika].
A
yogî who has purified his existence by devotion to Me
and who thus expertly knows the process of meditation
obtains knowledge of past, present and future. He can
therefore see the birth and death of himself and
others.
Text
29
Of a sage
versed in yoga whose consciousness is pacified can of My yoga
the body not be injured by the fire and such, just as the
aquatics cannot being of the water [see also
7.5:
33-50].
Just
as the bodies of aquatics cannot be injured by water,
similarly, the body of a yogî whose consciousness is
pacified by devotion to Me and who is fully developed in
yoga science cannot be injured by fire, sun, water, poison,
and so forth.
Text
30
He becomes
unconquerable meditating upon the expansions of Me, decorated
with the s'rîvatsa and weapons, flags, ceremonial
umbrellas and different fans [see also B.G.
11:
32].
My
devotee becomes unconquerable by meditating on My opulent
incarnations, which are decorated with S'rîvatsa and
various weapons and are endowed with imperial paraphernalia
such as flags, ornamental umbrellas and fans.
Text
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 the nature of his
practice].
A
learned devotee who worships Me through yoga meditation
certainly obtains in all respects the mystic perfections
that I have described.
Text
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?
For
a sage who has conquered his senses, breathing and mind, who
is self-controlled and always absorbed in meditation on Me,
what mystic perfection could possibly be difficult to
achieve?
Text
33
One says that
these [siddhis] to the one tying down in the supreme of
yoga to be complete with Me, are, as obstacles, the cause for
wasting one's time.
Learned
experts in devotional service state that the mystic
perfections of yoga that I have mentioned are actually
impediments and are a waste of time for one who is
practicing the supreme yoga, by which one achieves all
perfection in life directly from Me.
Text
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
[***].
Whatever
mystic perfections can be achieved by good birth, herbs,
austerities and mantras can all be achieved by devotional
service to Me; indeed, one cannot achieve the actual
perfection of yoga by any other means.
Text
35
Of all the
perfections am I indeed the cause and the protector; I am the
master of the yoga [the final union], the analysis, the
dharma, and the community of vedic teachers.
My
dear Uddhava, I am the cause, the protector and the Lord of
all mystic perfections, of the yoga system, of analytic
knowledge, of pure activity and of the community of learned
Vedic teachers.
Text
36
The same way as
the material elements exist internally and externally of the
living beings do I Myself, the Soul, exist uncovered, within
and without all the embodied beings [see also B.G.
2:
29-30].
Just
as the same material elements exist within and outside of
all material bodies, similarly, I cannot be covered by
anything else. I exist within everything as the Supersoul
and outside of everything in My all-pervading
feature.
*:
Verse 15 refers to attainment of spiritual perfection in
meditating the personal, transcendental, aspect of time of
Vishnu as its essential cohering substance, as opposed to
meditating time as mentioned in verse 12, relating more to the
impersonal aspect of the natural order to the elements, of the
cakra, which is Vishnu's weapon.
**:
Apart from the three gunas to Lord Nârâyana, there
is also mention of the three planes of existence of the
physical gross of the greater universe consisting of the
five elements; the astral, subtle, plane of the ten
senses of action and perception and their objects, the mind and
intelligence, and the causal plane of the consciousness
and the knower; in short: the world, the sensual body and the
individual knower to which there is the Original Person of God
as the fourth [see also B.G. 13:
19].
***:
The
actual perfection of yoga is, following verse 35 coming next,
named Krishna consciousness by the vaishnavas who defend the
Bhâgavatam in the West.
