SB 11.15.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

त्रिकालज्ञत्वमद्वन्द्वं परचित्ताद्यभिज्ञता । अग्‍न्यर्काम्बुविषादीनां प्रतिष्टम्भोऽपराजय: ॥ ८ ॥ एताश्चोद्देशत: प्रोक्ता योगधारणसिद्धय: । यया धारणया या स्याद् यथा वा स्यान्निबोध मे ॥ ९ ॥

Verse text

tri-kāla-jṣatvam advandvaṁ para-cittādy-abhijṣatā agny-arkāmbu-viṣādīnāṁ pratiṣṭambho ’parājayaḥ etāś coddeśataḥ proktā yoga-dhāraṇa-siddhayaḥ yayā dhāraṇayā yā syād yathā vā syān nibodha me

Synonyms

tri — kāla — jṣatvam — the perfection of knowing past, present and future ; advandvam — being unaffected by dualities such as heat and cold ; para — of others ; citta — the mind ; ādi — and so on ; abhijṣatā — knowing ; agni — of fire ; arka — the sun ; ambu — water ; viṣa — of poison ; ādīnām — and so on ; pratiṣṭambhaḥ — checking the potency ; aparājayaḥ — not being conquered by others ; etāḥ — these ; ca — also ; uddeśataḥ — merely by mentioning their names and characteristics ; proktāḥ — are described ; yoga — of the yoga system ; dhāraṇa — of meditation ; siddhayaḥ — perfections ; yayā — by which ; dhāraṇayā — meditation ; yā — which (perfection) ; syāt — may occur ; yathā — by which means ; vā — or ; syāt — may occur ; nibodha — please learn ; me — from Me .

Translation

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.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

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 lower siddhis. I am simply listing these here according to their names and characteristics. Now please learn from me how specific siddhis arise from specific meditations and also of the particular processes involved. Five inferior siddhis are described. Advandvam means to be unaffected by cold or heat. One can check the influence of fire, the sun, water or poison (paristambhanam).

Purport

According to the ācāryas these five perfections are considered to be quite inferior to the others already mentioned, since they involve more or less ordinary physical and mental manipulations. According to Śrīla Madhvācārya, in the perfection called agny-arkāmbu-viṣādīnāṁ pratiṣṭambhaḥ, or checking the influence of fire, sun, water, poison, and so on, the term “and so on” refers to one’s remaining invulnerable to all types of weapons as well as attacks by nails, teeth, beating, curses and other such sources.