Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
सिद्धयोऽष्टादश प्रोक्ता धारणा योगपारगै: ।
तासामष्टौ मत्प्रधाना दशैव गुणहेतव: ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
siddhayo ’ṣṭādaśa proktā
dhāraṇā yoga-pāra-gaiḥ
tāsām aṣṭau mat-pradhānā
daśaiva guṇa-hetavaḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
siddhayaḥ
—
mystic perfections
;
aṣṭādaśa
—
eighteen
;
proktāḥ
—
are declared
;
dhāraṇāḥ
—
meditations
;
yoga
—
of yoga
;
pāra
—
gaiḥ — by the masters
;
tāsām
—
of the eighteen
;
aṣṭau
—
eight
;
mat
—
pradhānāḥ — have their shelter in Me
;
daśa
—
ten
;
eva
—
indeed
;
guṇa
—
hetavaḥ — are manifested from the material mode of goodness .
Translation
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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Lord said: The masters of the yoga system have declared that there are eighteen types of siddhi and meditation, of which eight are primary, having their shelter in me, and ten are secondary, appearing from the material mode of goodness.
There are eighteen types of meditation and siddhis. I am naturally the shelter of the eight siddhis (mat-pradhānāḥ). They are perfect in me, arising from my svarūpa-śakti. They are not material. In others, by sādhana, those siddhas manifest to lesser degree and are material. The other ten siddhis, such as being undisturbed by material conditions, are caused by the guṇas like sattva.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains the word
mat pradhānāḥ
as follows. Lord Kṛṣṇa is naturally the shelter of the eight primary mystic potencies and meditations because such perfections emanate from the Lord’s personal potency, and thus they are fully developed only within the Lord Himself and the Lord’s personal associates. When materialistic persons mechanically acquire such potencies, the perfections awarded are of an inferior degree and are considered to be manifestations of
māyā,
illusion. A pure devotee of the Lord automatically receives from the Lord wonderful potencies to execute his devotional service. If for sense gratification one mechanically endeavors to acquire mystic perfections, then these perfections are certainly considered to be inferior expansions of the Lord’s external potency.