Siddha
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A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara (ego or I-maker), have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies (composed mainly of dense Rajo-tama gunas) into a different kind of body dominated by sattva. This is usually accomplished only by persistent meditation.
According to Jain belief Siddha are liberated souls who have destroyed all the karma bondings. Siddha do not have any kind of body, they are soul at its purest form.
A siddha has also been defined to refer to one who has attained a siddhi. The siddhis as paranormal abilities are considered emergent abilities of an individual that is on the path to siddhahood, and do not define a siddha, who is established in the Pranav or Aum – the spiritual substrate of creation. The siddhi in its pure form means "the attainment of flawless identity with Reality (Brahman); perfection of Spirit."
In the Hindu philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism (Hindu tantra), siddha also refers to a Siddha Guru who can by way of Shaktipat initiate disciples into Yoga.
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[edit] Siddha-shila
In Jain Cosmology siddha-shila is situated at the very top of universe. The Siddhas (liberated souls who will never take birth again, who have gone above the cycle of life and death) go to the siddha-shila after being liberated and stays there till infinity. Siddha is a level of soul above Arihanta who possess kevala jnana. In Hindu cosmology siddhaloka is a subtle world (lokam) where perfected beings (siddhas) take birth. They are endowed with the eight primary siddhis at birth.
[edit] Siddhashrama
In Hindu mythology, Siddhashrama is a secret land deep in the Himalayas, where great yogis, sadhus, and sages who are siddha live. The concept is similar to Tibetan mystical land of Shambhala.
Siddhashrama is referred in many Indian epics and Puranas including Ramayana and Mahabharata. In Valmiki's Ramayana it is said that Viswamitra had his hermitage in Siddhashrama, the erstwhile hermitage of Vishnu, when he appeared as the Vamana avatara. He takes Rama and Lakshmana to Siddhashrama to exterminate the rakshasas who are disturbing his religious sacrifices (i.28.1-20)[1][2].
[edit] Siddha Sampradaya
Whenever siddha is mentioned the 84 siddhas and 9 nathas are remembered and it is this tradition of siddha which is known as the Siddha Sampradaya. Siddha is a term used for both mahasiddhas and nathas. So a siddha may mean a siddha, a mahasiddha or a natha. The three words siddha, mahasiddha and natha are used interchangeably.
[edit] The eighty-four Siddhas in the Varna(na)ratnakara
A list of eighty-four Siddhas (though, actually only 76 names are mentioned) is found in a manuscript (manuscript no 48/34 of the Asiatic Society of Bengal) dated Lakshmana Samvat 388 (1506) of a medieval Maithili work, the Varna(na)ratnākara written by Kaviśekharācārya Jyotirīśvara Ṭhākura, the court poet of King Harisimhadeva of Mithila (reigned 1300–1321). An interesting feature of this list is that the names of the most revered Nathas are incorporated in this list along with the Buddhist Siddhacharyas. The names of the Siddhas found in this list are[3][4]:
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[edit] The Siddhas in the Hathayogapradipika
In the first upadeśa (chapter) of the Haṭhayogapradīpikā, a 15th century text, a list of yogis is found, who are described as the Mahasiddhas. This list has a number of names common with those found in the list of the Varna(na)ratnākara[3][5]:
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[edit] Tamil Nadu tradition of Siddhahood
In South India, a siddha refers to a being who has achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual perfection or enlightenment. The ultimate demonstration of this is that siddhas allegedly attained physical immortality. Thus siddha, like siddhar or cittar (indigenisation of Sanskrit terms in Tamil Nadu) refers to a person who has realised the goal of a type of sadhana and become a perfected being. In Tamil Nadu, South India, where the siddha tradition is still practiced, special individuals are recognized as and called siddhas (or siddhars or cittars) who are on the path to that assumed perfection after they have taken special secret rasayanas to perfect their bodies, in order to be able to sustain prolonged meditation along with a form of pranayama which considerably reduces the number of breaths they take.
[edit] Siddha medicine
Siddha medicine is a form of medical treatment of diseases using substances of all possible origins in a way that balances the possible harmful effect of each substance. This form of medicine was professed and practised by siddhars who wrote their recipes on palm-leaves for the use of future generations. Siddha medicine was developed by outstanding Dravidians (ancient Tamils), locally called Cittars. Preparations are made mainly out of the parts of the plants and trees such as leaves, bark, stem, root etc, but include also mineral and some animal substances. This form of medicine is still today well known in South India. The use of metals like gold, silver and iron powders (Sanskrit bhasma) in some preparations is a special feature of siddha medicine, which claims it can detoxify metals to enable them to be used for stubborn diseases. This claim is especially relevant in the case of mercury which is relatively often used in the system; medicine containing purified mercury should only be received, if at all, from a highly qualified practitioner of the art.
[edit] See also
- Agastyar
- Tirumular
- Siddha Sampradaya
- Siddha Yoga
- Siddhi
- Mahasiddha
- Traditional Knowledge Digital Library
[edit] References
- ^ Vyas, R.T. (ed.) (1992). Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Text as Constituted in its Critical Edition. Vadodara: Oriental Institute, Vadodara. p. 40.
- ^ Hanumanta Rao, Desiraju (1998). "Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Chapter 29". valmikiramayan.net website. http://www.valmikiramayan.net/bala/sarga29/bala_29_frame.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ a b Dasgupta, Sashibhusan (1995). Obscure Religious Cults, Firma K.L.M., Calcutta, ISBN 81-7102-020-8, pp.203ff, 204
- ^ Shastri Haraprasad (ed.) (1916, 3rd edition 2006). Hajar Bacharer Purano Bangala Bhasay Bauddhagan O Doha (in Bengali), Kolkata: Vangiya Sahitya Parishad, pp.xxxv-vi
- ^ Sinh, Pancham (tr.) (1914). "Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Chapter 1". sacred-texts.com website. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/hyp/hyp03.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
