5

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said..

yajante sattvika devan
yaksa-raksamsi rajasah
pretan bhuta-ganams
canye yajante tamasa janah

Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods;
those in the mode of passion worship the yakshas and rakshasas;
and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.

What about Siddhis meditating on Supreme being? What is the difference between those Siddhis who meditate on the demigods and those who meditate on supreme being? Will there be any difference of the powers?

Improve this question
10
  • What do you mean by Siddhis?
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 16:40
  • I mean actually the people who have siddhis? I don't know what we call them, so I just put Siddhis there.
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 16:43
  • OK, so are you just looking for the difference in powers in between those who worship Vishnu and those who worship other beings?
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 16:46
  • yes, it is what I am looking for.
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 16:47
  • The siddhis obtained by meditating (whether on demigods or on the Supreme being) are still just siddhis. Siddhis or powers are merely obstacles on the path towards God. These serve to increase ego and attachment to desires. These must be let go. But there is one difference between the two. The one meditating on Demigods, takes these siddhis as 'powers' that has obtained by means of his own self effort, thus ruining himself by abusing them. Whereas the one meditating on the Lord Himself, views these Siddhis as God-given gifts to be used to serve Him, thus redeeming Himself! All d best Sir
    – Sai
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 20:44

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

Short answer : NO

Detailed Answer

The people with Siddhis are called as 'Siddhas'. Siddhis can be considered a level in a person's spiritual development, hence the level is the same whoever you meditate on, just the manifestation may vary a little.

The scriptures talk about 8 Siddhis that can be attained like being heavier than a mountain, lighter than air etc.

People who worship demigods cannot very easily go beyond this level since prayers to demigods only satisfies one's desire but to meditate on the Supreme one must go beyond desire, hence great Siddhas normally don't pride themselves over their powers and concentrate on the attainment of the Supreme.

Notable examples are Hanuman, Shankaracharya, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna etc.

Improve this answer
7
  • Demigods in the sense? Examples?
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 9:06
  • 1
    By demigods i mean the devas like indra etc.
    – S Raghav
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 16:37
  • Could you tell me who are 'NOT' demigods?
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 17:15
  • 1
    By demigods i mean people who have attained the 'posts' of devas by doing some yajna,also some family deities can be considered so,also bhutas,pretas and pitrus.The Trimurthis,Sakthi are examples of 'not demigods' since they are large sparks of the supreme,nay, the supreme being itself
    – S Raghav
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 9:05
  • Lord Ganesha and Karthikeya?
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 6:11
1

This is from Bhagavad-gita 17.4. This shloka talks about worship in different guna of material nature. But Ishvara, the Supreme Being, is said to be above the gunas of material nature, as said right in the previous shloka, in 7.13.

People who worship the Supreme Being do not get any siddhi, if Ishvara considers it unnecessary for their service. However, obviously, He can grant anything to the one worshiping Him.

The important difference is, relationship with the Supreme Lord is completely above the material world. If you depend on some material stuff, then He will give you that, be it siddhi (supernatural powers), kama (satisfaction of the senses) or artha (prosperity), but the goal of relationships with Him is complete detachment from anything material not related to the devotional service. It's not even moksha.

Worshipping the devas like Indra or Brahma or any other deva can benefit you in the area covered by this deva, but those blessings will stay within the material world, meaning, they'll end when you inevitably die.

Improve this answer
0

Please read Kena Upanishad (I. 5-9). verse 5 says "That which cannot be expressed by speech, but by which speech is expressed--That alone is Brahman, and not that which people here worship." 'not that which people here worship' refers to the good deities that people worship. They are not the real Brahman. You should not see Brahman in that which is not Brahman. By worshiping deities you can get siddhis, but not moksha.

Also see Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms (III. 51-55) on the Samyama to obtain moksha. The previous verses in the same chapter refer to the siddhis that can be obtained but do not lead to moksha.

Siddhis means powers. Siddha means a man who has attained success.

Improve this answer
4
  • What is the use of those `siddhis'?
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 6:12
  • @javatechnical They can make you a god or make you powerful. But they only divert you away from moksha. They only lead to rebirth.
    – Swami Vishwananda
    Commented Nov 23, 2014 at 10:10
  • Do you mean using them leads to re-birth or what?
    – user12458
    Commented Nov 25, 2014 at 11:50
  • It does mean that either you use them or not use them, you'll end up re-birthing here again. You do not need any siddhi to gain moksha.
    – hijarian
    Commented Mar 16, 2015 at 9:16

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .