पातञ्जल योगसूत्र (स्वामी विवेकानन्द भाष्य एवं सूत्र व्याख्या)

Patanjali Yoga Sutras CHAPTER IV – KAIVALYA PADA INDEPENDENCE ॥ चतुर्थः कैवल्यपादः ॥

1. जन्मौषधिमन्त्रतपःसमाधिजाः सिद्धयः ॥ १॥ janmaushadhimantratapahsamadhijah siddhayah The Siddhis (powers) are attained by birth, chemical means, power of words, mortification or concentration. Sometimes a man is born with the Siddhis, powers, of course from the exercise of powers he had in his previous birth. In this birth he is born, as it were, to enjoy the fruits of them. It is said of Kapila, the great father of the Sankhya Philosophy, that he was a born Siddha, which means, literally, a man who has attained to success. The Yogis claim that these powers can be gained by chemical means. All of you know that chemistry originally began as alchemy; men went in search of the philsopher’s stone, and elixirs of life, and so forth. In Inidia there was a sect called the Rasayanas. Their idea was that ideality, knowledge, spirituality and religion, were all very right, but that the body was the only instrument by which to attain to all these. If the body broke now and then it would take so much more time to attain to the goal. For instance, a man wants to practice Yoga, or wants to become spiritual. Before he has advanced very far he dies. Then he takes another body and begins again, 123