41. SIDDHI-S
D: Will jñānin-s have all sorts of siddhi-s (supernatural powers) always?
A: No. If the prārabdha of a jñānin is such that he should have siddhi-s, we can see them in him. If the jñānin so desires, he can get siddhi-s but it is unlikely that he will get such a desire.
D: Do siddhi-s indicate the attainment of an exalted spiritual state.
A: No, for some siddhi-s can be attained even by the use of herbs, mantra-s, austerity or the worship of evil spirits.
D: Is a jñānin affected by siddhi-s in any way?
A: No. He does not care in the least for siddhi-s. He may or may not get them but he does not bother about that at all.
D: Can it be said that nothing in a magic show is the consequence of a siddhi of the magician?
A: Normally, magic shows are mere tricks. The magician’s possession of some power cannot be ruled out in very rare cases.
D: Some people cure diseases, like jaundice, with great ease. For example, water is kept in a vessel. It becomes yellowish and the patient’s eyes become normal. The disease is also cured. How do such actual cures occur?
A: Normally, they take place through the power of a mantra. A few other factors hold the key in some cases. Generally, those who cure diseases in this manner do not accept money for their treatment. They cure as an act of service. As far as I have seen, if they teach their method to other people, the potency of the mantra is lost.
D: Then how do they teach other people?
A: Normally, they retire after teaching it to their sons or disciples.
D: Sometimes we find vibhūti (holy ash) falling from a photograph. Will Acharyal kindly clarify how such incidents can occur?
A: Often fraud is involved. Sometimes, such things happen owing to the power of an evil spirit. At other times, they occur because of a sage’s saṅkalpa (resolve). At times, Īśvara wills such events to show His presence.
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❑ Discourses of Acharyal
The following is an extract from a discourse delivered by Acharyal in the year 1988:
After Bhagavatpāda obtained permission for saṁnyāsa from His mother, Āryāmbā, she told Him, “I gave You permission to become a saṁnyāsin since it was my wish that you should live. However, You are my only son. If I die, You should come and perform my obsequies. Otherwise, what is the use of having begotten You as my son?”
Unwilling to disappoint His mother, Bhagavatpāda declared, “I shall fulfil your desire. Wherever I may be and in whatever condition, I shall come to you in the hour of need and personally perform your last rites.”
One might ask “Was it right on the part of Bhagavatpāda to have given such a promise?” Yes, in that circumstance, Bhagavatpāda’s assurance was perfectly in order. He procured her consent on the basis of such an assurance. However, the promise that Bhagavatpāda gave cannot be given by any other, for another would not be able to visualise the time of his mother’s death and arrive at his mother’s side immediately. Can a person not assuage his mother with promises, take saṁnyāsa, and then forget the commitments? No, once one makes a promise, it becomes one’s bounden duty to see that one fulfils one’s commitment at the appropriate time. No promise should be allowed to turn out to be an empty one. Bhagavatpāda certainly valued His promise. When Bhagavatpāda was at Sringeri, by the special powers that He had, He envisioned the approaching end of His mother.
The mantra-śāstra speaks of several siddhi-s or supernatural powers. One such is the ‘pādukā-siddhi’ by which a person can reach the place of his choice in an extremely short time by his mere wish. Bhagavatpāda reached Kalady from Sringeri by the use of pādukā-siddhi. Is this possible? Yes, we should accept the words of those who have experienced it. My Guru has confirmed the existence of pādukā-siddhi. An instance of the use of pādukā-siddhi comes to My mind. There was a person who lived in Sringeri. My śāstra teacher and that person started out together from Sringeri by walk to go to Kigga for offering prayers at the temple there. The person concerned was old and My śāstra teacher moved a little ahead of him. There was only one road to Kigga and so, if at any point of time that person had overtaken My śāstra teacher, the latter would have certainly known. However, when My teacher reached Kigga, he found that the elder person was already there.
Bhagavatpāda had yoga-siddhi and mantra-siddhi. However, supernatural powers should not be used. Yet, if one abstains from invoking them even in the exceptional circumstances in which they should be, one would be behaving foolishly. Bhagavatpāda used the pādukā-siddhi rightly for the sake of His mother. Reaching Kalady in this manner, He performed her last rites.
Bhagavatpāda’s action was guided solely by the consideration that the assurance given by Him to His mother prior to His departure had to be carried out at any cost. Āryāmbā attained the exalted status that she rightly deserved. Bhagavatpāda did not act out of attachment; nor was He motivated by the desire to fulfil some personal ends. It is true that saṁnyāsin-s are prohibited from performing funeral rites, but Bhagavatpāda was a brahmavit, a knower of the Truth and such knowers are beyond restrictions.
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❑ Experiences of Devotees
A jñānin with immense tapas is a veritable Kāmadhenu. His words unfailingly come to pass.
Once when Acharyal was travelling to Tirupati, Sri Subba Rao and Sri Nanjunda Rao were with Him. At a certain spot, the car entered a pool of slush and got stuck. The attempts made by the devotees to get the car out were all in vain. Finally, Sri Subba Rao came to Acharyal who was sitting inside the car and said, “We have tried all we could to take the car out but we failed. Only Acharyal can do something about it now.” They resumed the work and to their great surprise, the car was released smoothly! Later, out of curiosity, Sri Subba Rao approached His Holiness and asked what exactly He did to cause the car come out of the slush easily. Acharyal said, “I chanted Śrī-Hanumat-pañcaratna and prayed to Lord Āñjaneya to offer help. It came. I do not normally resort to such prayers. In this case, you people tried your level best and then came to Me and said that only I could do something. That is why I decided to pray to Hanumān!” [Mrs.Ramnath]
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Once while touring in the state of Tamilnadu, a group of villagers stopped His Holiness’ car. They submitted to His Holiness, “We have heard that You are called ‘Mazhai Swamigal ’ (Swamiji who brings rains). Please get us the rains as we have been suffering from drought for the past several years.”
As it was getting late for us and as a part of our convoy had already gone ahead, we were trying to convince the villagers to allow us to proceed. Acharyal called me and said, “Look, I find that they have a strong faith in God and some in Me too. If I am to ignore them and proceed further, not only will their faith get ruined but also will their attitudes change towards atheism. So, I have decided to stay here for the night. Send a car and bring the trucks back to this place.” His words were final and all His instructions were carried out. Some house was identified as the venue for the pūjā to be performed by His Holiness. Before the commencement of the pūjā, His Holiness called some of us and instructed, “Make an announcement to the villagers that there will be heavy rains tonight and therefore, they have to take necessary precautions to protect their kith and kin and property.” The announcement was made but the villagers were a bit sceptical about the prediction. However, they attended the pūjā. After the pūjā, Acharyal called us and told, “I will spend the whole night inside the car itself and you all may find comfortable places to sleep in the night. Acharyal then got into the rear seat of the car and sat in padmāsana. After an hour or so, a heavy downpour started with thunder and lightning. All through the night, it rained cats and dogs. The next day morning, the villagers surrounded Acharyal’s car and the village headman prayed that the rains be stopped as all the tanks and reservoirs were already full and that if the rains continued, it would cause havoc.” The rains stopped and the yātrā resumed. [Sri A.Ramaswamy]
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Acharyal once planned to visit the Narasimha Parvata where Sri Nrisimha Bharati Mahaswamigal had performed protracted penance. We wanted to accompany Him. He initially dissuaded us as it was raining heavily and the path was arduous. Finally, however, He gave us permission. On the way, Acharyal performed pūjā at the Ṛṣyaśṛṅga temple in Kigga and gave my husband prasāda. All of us reached the summit and stayed there for the night. At 3.00 p.m. the next day, everybody was ready to descend. Ominous dark clouds began to gather and a downpour was expected at any moment. “Let us start immediately. It will not rain till we go down”, remarked Acharyal with a tone of finality. As we descended, we could see that it was raining heavily on the hills on our right and left. However, we were not caught in the rain. The most intriguing part of the phenomenon was that the rain could be seen following us but it never overtook us as we climbed down. As soon as we had reached the vehicles, Acharyal said, “All of you board the vehicles immediately. Nature has been tested enough.” No sooner had we taken our seats than it began to rain cats and dogs. What better illustration is needed to prove Acharyal’s total mastery over Nature? [Smt.Vaikuntham Anantharamaseshan]
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Irrespective of when Acharyal went to sleep, He would get up at 4 o’ clock in the morning. I observed this when I had the golden opportunity of staying in the divine presence of Acharyal during His Hyderabad camp. Sometimes, He would call out to me to check if I was awake. On one morning, I just wanted to see what His Holiness was doing as there was no sound heard after He called out to me once or twice. I slightly moved the blanket covering my face. I was surprised to see that Acharyal was seated in padmāsana, literally floating at about nine inches in air. His body was motionless and there was no trace of breathing in Him. After being in this state for about ten minutes, His body started to descend slowly and soon after this, the breathing was visible. I heard Him chant ‘Oṁ’ after performing prāṇāyāma. Then, He got up and went out of the room. Later, I posed a casual question to His Holiness: “Is it possible for one to float?” Acharyal replied, “Yes, it is quite possible to do so through the means taught in the yoga-śāstra.” [Sri Rajagopala Sharma]
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Once I went to His abode to check His blood pressure. I checked it in His left arm and was shocked to find it very high. Then, without showing any reaction, His Holiness stretched His right hand and asked me to check the BP in that arm also. I obeyed. To my surprise, the pressure was extremely low. Looking at my panic-stricken face, He laughed loudly. Only then did I realise that He was teasing me with His superhuman powers. On another occasion, He asked me to check His body temperature. I was shocked to observe that it was extremely high. After some time, He commanded me to check the temperature again. When I carried out His instruction, I was surprised to find His body to be extremely chill. Noticing my confusion, He had a hearty laugh. [Dr. Subhalakshmi]
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Once, when I was travelling in Madras on a two wheeler, I met with an accident resulting in a multiple fracture of bones in my arm. I was admitted in a hospital and the doctor who attended to me decided that I had to undergo a surgery without any delay. In due course, the matter was conveyed to Acharyal by my parents residing at Sringeri. Acharyal had blessed my parents with the sacred prasāda for my early recovery. I was informed that the prasāda was being sent from Sringeri. I requested the doctor to delay the surgery as I wished to receive the prasāda first. The doctor retorted saying that I was behaving like a fool in spite of being a doctor myself. I ignored his words and went to the extent of transferring myself to a different Unit where a leading orthopaedic surgeon and an ardent devotee of our Math was the Head. The surgeon understood my sentiments and agreed to wait till the prasāda came and said that the surgery could be performed after three weeks. The prasāda from Acharyal arrived and I applied it on the affected region. When after three weeks, an X-Ray was taken, the surgeon was pleasantly surprised to find that all the dislocated bones had got reset! What else is this but Acharyal’s grace? Bewildered by the miracle, the doctor declared that he would preserve the X-Ray for his students to see! [Dr. Subhalakshmi]
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Acharyal could cause siddhi-s to manifest and stop them too:
When I went to Sringeri in 1973, I spoke of the numerous siddhi-s like clairaudience that had manifested in me and beseeched Him to get rid of them, as I did not wish to be tempted to use them.
Acharyal : It is Īśvara’s will that He use your body for some of His purposes. That is why these powers are manifesting.
I : But I fear them.
Acharyal : Very well. They shall stop making their appearance. However, when there is suitable occasion, they shall spontaneously crop up.
Accordingly, the supernormal abilities vanished. I was glad that Acharyal, in His compassion, readily eliminated the siddhi-s. [A disciple]
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My father was once travelling by plane. A man whom others called ‘Swamiji’ was sitting next to my father. He placed his hand on my father’s head and materialised a silver coin! When he gave it to my father, the latter said, “I do not go in for anything less than gold.” That person did something and the silver coin got transformed into gold! Later, when my father had the darśana of Acharyal, he showed the coin to His Holiness and narrated the incident. He then asked His Holiness, “Why does not Your Holiness too perform such miracles?’’ Acharyal replied, “What you are mentioning is an external miracle. I can easily do it and I can even teach you too to perform it. However, it will not be of any use to anyone as it is done only to impress others. Transforming an individual and leading him to higher good, is the biggest miracle performed by a Guru.” [Sri S. Shivaswamy]
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