Attaining siddhi without siddha-pranali? -

Most of you probably have gone over the document on siddha-pranali I recently put together. Here's something I wrote to one devotee who was asking whether siddha-pranali was directly mentioned as such in the writings of the six Goswamis.

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It is true that siddha-pranali as such isn't explicitly spelled out in the writings of the Goswamis. However the legitimate theological premises for the practice are there, that can hardly be contested. As mentioned, Dhyanachandra Goswami, and his guru Gopal Guru Goswami, wrote of such practice in their paddhatis. (Unfortunately I have only Dhyanachandra's paddhati at my disposal, I hear they are fairly identical.)

The way you'll see it practiced nowadays (aside complaints about people not being qualified, I mean in its shape) is how the tradition came to practically implement the dilemma described in my essay about contemplating on siddha-deha during the stage of sadhana. That's the way it has been practiced for centuries, and the practice is virtually universal among Gaudiyas seeking for manjari-bhava outside the Gaudiya Math and its offshoots.

As to whether someone can attain his siddha-deha without first hearing of it from the guru: Yes, in principle it is possible on the strength of extremely strong samskaras of bhajana from the previous life. However, for someone without prior bhakti-samskaras such attainment will be troublesome, as the sadhaka's conception will not be clear.

This is why you read in Bhaktivinoda's Jaiva Dharma the hearing of ekAdaza-bhAva labeled as upAsaka-pariSkRti, or the refinement of the worshiper's conception as some have aptly translated it.

It is also, in theory, possible to attain Krishna without hearing descriptions of him. "Let all that awaken from within," one may say, "why should I hear about it from a guru? Or descriptions of Radha and the sakhis, why should I hear all that. It isn't really necessary since the holy name has the power to reveal everything. And why should I hear of my own svarupa? The holy name reveals it whenever is the time for it." That does not stand to reason, as far as I am concerned.

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There is also another point I would like to address in this vein: What is and what isn't meant by siddha-praNAlI.

First, there are the more enlightened ones who have understood that praNAlI means a succession, and that therefore receiving siddha-praNAlI doesn't just mean the revelation of your own, individual ekAdaza-bhAva. However, there are some who then mistakenly think that siddha-praNAlI refers to a guru-paramparA in which everyone is a siddha. That may or may not be the case, but that's besides the point since that isn't implied by the word siddha of siddha-praNAlI. The word siddha refers to siddha-rUpas, or the siddha-dehas of the gurus in the guru-praNAlI. It is not a commentary on whether or not the said gurus have all attained svarUpa-siddhi. Siddha-praNAlI therefore doesn't mean "guru-paramparA of siddha-mahAtmas". It means: "The Vraja-counterpart of the individuals of the guru-praNAlI."

Then, there are others who have not understood the concept at all. They think of siddha-praNAlI as some sort of magic initiation in which one is immediately granted full acquaintance with the siddha-deha, or svarUpa-siddhi. While that would certainly be neat, this isn't what giving siddha-praNAlI means. It simply means becoming connected to a channel of mercy that manifests in Vraja-dhama as a certain gaNa of Radharani's maidservants (the aforesaid siddha-rUpas, or forms of Radha-Krishna's pArSadas) and accepting with all seriousness the quest for attaining the service of Her lotus feet under their guidance. Through inner cultivation of the knowledge one has received as he has been accepted as one among the maidservants is what leads one to the attainment of siddhi and concrete realization of the siddha-rUpa.

In this vein, I'll quote myself from another recent post with regards to contemplation on siddha-rUpa during sAdhana, on the concept of the siddha-rUpa being "internally conceived". A clarification on the word "conceived" -- "Conceived" is used as a translation of "antaz-cintita" and "manaz-cintita", "internally conceived" or "mentally conceived", terms used in the commentaries explaining the famous sevA sAdhaka-rUpena siddha-rUpena cAtra hi -verse. Here "conceived" is used synonymously with "contemplated", "thought" and other such words. As in:

2 a : to take into one's mind; b : to form a conception of : imagine. (M-W)

This is a description of the way the sAdhaka relates to the siddha-rUpa during sAdhana. It is no different from the sAdhaka's remembrance of Krishna -- initially the form of Krishna isn't fully realized, but is rather a mental image of what Krishna might be like, a conception that becomes clarified and closer and closer to the original as the fog of ignorance within the heart dissipates through the power of various devotional practices.

I find this hard to understand, even when we discussed it before. I think it would be cleared up if it is clearly explained what is the benefit of meditation on the siddha-dehas of the gurus in the guru-pranali, regardless if those gurus have realised and occupied those dehas or not. What is the benefit to a sadhaka to meditate on an "empty" siddha-deha of one's guru or previous gurus, even if such dehas are eternally perfect and real? And what is it that makes it eternal and real? The fact that the guru "revealed" this or is it something else?

What is the benefit of meditating on the maidservants of Sri Radha in whose company and under whose guidance one is to render service to Sri Yugal? Ore!

These siddha-dehas aren't "blanks" or inherently defunct prior to svarUpa-siddhi. Regardless of whether the guru has attained the stage of bhAva-bhakti or not, the svarUpa of guru-maJjarI will be there for you for your meditations, forever.



The siddha-gopI-svarUpa is Radharani's kAya-vyUha-rUpa. Therein lies its reality and its eternity. There is certainly no need to establish its reality beyond that!

I see. I have trouble understanding the eternality and reality of it because of what was written by your param-guru in his book. I am puzzled by the reference to unlimited forms being present in the Lord's abode, where are they stored? And prior to the entrance of the jiva in such a body, it is in an inactive state? How do I understand this in light of your statements that they are Radhe's kaya-vyuha-rupa? Inactive ones? I have trouble understanding the reality/eternality of something that is in the spiritual world, that is inactive? Hopefully you can answer my questions.

Or could it be that this is the viewpoint of your beloved param-guru? If so, do you happen to know how other Vaisnavas (from other parivaras?) may view the situation?

I'd actually like to see the original text of Manjari-svarupa-nirupana before commenting much further on this. I'm afraid I don't have a copy at hand. Jagat, could you be so kind as to post in the relevant passage in Bengali?

The way I understand it is that the svarUpas are inactive in the sense of their being inactive from our own perspective, since we aren't serving with due identification with them yet.

Maybe this is of some help for you in the meantime, dear Gaurasundara:

MSN, The spiritual body

In the tenth section of the Priti-sandarbha, Jiva Gosvamin writes: “In the spiritual world, the Supreme Lord has unlimited spiritual forms, all are expansions of himself illuminating that world. With each one of those forms, the Lord enjoys pastimes with a single individual liberated soul.” These liberated souls therefore have spiritual bodies like that of the Lord. In the Lord`s abode,there are an unlimited number of forms, all suitable for rendering service to him. Every one of those forms is non-different from him, being expanded from his effulgence; each one is eternal, full of consciousness and bliss. They are the crowning, central jewels of the spiritual world - its very life. These unlimited spiritual bodies are the perfected forms of the liberated souls which are awarded to an individual, according to his taste, when he reaches the state of absolute liberation. This state is called attainment of the spiritual body. All these spiritual bodies are eternal for they exist even before the liberated souls enter them and will continue to exist ever afterward. However, prior to the entry of the liberated soul they are in an inactive state.
As all of the unlimited souls are servants of the Lord, each one of them has a spiritual body in the Lords abode just suitable for rendering service to the Lord. When an individual becomes qualified for direct service to the Lord by the grace of the Goddess of Devotion, then the Supreme Lord awards him that spiritual body.

The quote from Sri Jiva Goswami:
vaikunthasya bhagavato jyotir-amsa-bhuta vaikuntha-loka-sobha-rupa ya ananta murtayas tatra vartante,
tasam ekaya saha muktasyaikasya murtir bhagavata kriyata iti vaikuntasya murtir iva murtir yesham ity uktam |
(PritiS 10)

Thank you very much. This is the section I was thinking of, thanks very much for posting it.

The thing I couldn't understand is how there are unlimited forms and how are they in an inactive state if they are Radhe's kaya-vyuha-rupa and so on, assuming that we are talking just of manjari-rupas. And then how are they inactive and real/eternal? I guess we had better wait until the original Bengali comes in so that should make it a bit clearer.

I also asked about this a while ago, and if I'm not mistaken others have too. The referance comes up in both Manjari Svarupa Nirupan and Manjari Bhava Sadhana Paddhati as wll as Sri Ananta das babaji's books particularly his introduction to the Gutika. It does'nt bother me that I don't quite understand it as I am perfectly happy with the system adopted and propounded by Thakura Bhaktivinoda, and according to him the siddha deha that the sadhaka recieves is in accordance with the sadhakas aquired ruci arroused by hearing Hari Lila, and that it is born out of guru's grace guru prasAda janani and formed and developed by desire and contemplation bhAvanAmayi or vAsanAmayi. Just as there are meditations for Krsna that enable one to visualize him more and more by regular practice so the ekadas bhava are for regular contemplation for deeper and deeper visualisation ultimately leading to svarupa siddhi. There should be no apprehension that this is imaginary, but it is that faculty of the mind which can imagine that is surely a great asset for bhajan. yA kalptA who imagined or conceived,
what ?ramyA kAcid upAsanA vrajavadhu-vargena yA kalpitA the most delightfull mode of worship is that imagined by the young brides of Vraja.

The problem with this suggestion, Madanmohan ji, we face when considering the eternity of the siddha-deha. Can one manufacture a siddha-deha, do all all parshada-forms posses an eternal -- beginningless and endless -- nature?

I don't think there is any suggestion of manufacture in regard to the siddha deha, whether or not it exists prior to one's aquaintance with it seems superfluous. Certainly lord Krsna and his associates exist eternally in Goloka and the name, beauty and attributes are beginningless and unlimited, so say the scripters, and the jiva's that are fortunate enough to attain that realm do not revert to samsara. So either it exists already and is percieved by degrees according to sadhana, or it develops through sadhana, in any case the end result is the same. There's a fine line between visualisation and imagination I guess. But really I'm out of my depth here
It's certainly beyond reason and debate and only meant for the eager few.