Siddhi Lost its Power

Painting by Mr. Vivek Bharambe

Once, while Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar was staying as Bhikoba Niwas, Kakuma’s home, he heard that a sadhu from the Himalayas had come and was staying on the ground floor of the same building. Baba was staying on the third floor. 

That sadhu had attained some spiritual powers (siddhi). He would raise his right hand high in the air and at that very second, an idol of Lord Shri Krishna would appear in his hand. To those who asked, this is how he would show off his power. Knowledge of this miracle spread like the wind. Many people got idols of Krishna from that sadhu. 

As soon as Saint Baba heard about this, he went to see the sadhu and first did a namaskar to him. Then Baba went and sat close to the sadhu. The sadhu felt like he wanted to show off the miraculous nature of his power to Baba, so he told Baba about how he raised his hand in the air and got an idol of Krishna. Then he began to demonstrate. But how funny! He raised his hand but, there was no idol there. He tried this many times, but an idol never appeared in his hand. 

Finally, the sadhu opened his eyes again after the attempts, and as he looked at Baba, he saw Lord Shri Krishna sitting there. 

That very second, the sadhu fell to Baba’s feet, apologizing and begging for forgiveness. Baba then said to him, “Do not misuse your spiritual power like this again.”

In Divyamritdhara, Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar says that bhakti (devotion), dnyaan (knowledge) or yog, no matter what one’s approach to or form of sadhana is, the realm of divine experiences (anubhav) is simply the revelation of divine centers within the body. As one ascends and realizes the presence of these divine centers, knowledge and spiritual powers come gushing in. These spiritual powers are only a partial manifestation of the divine. This is why scriptures tell us that people on this journey should not make use of them. The truly important consideration here is how to make use of one’s own capabilities—but the absence of capability is an indication of not really being on this spiritual path. Yogis get stuck in the web of these powers because of egoism. They themselves begin to use this adornment of god. This itself is the beginning of their downfall.