Siddha

Not to be confused with Siddha medicine or Siddhar.For other uses, see Siddha (disambiguation).

In Hinduism, a siddha is one who is

The famous mahasiddha Virpa, 16th century

accomplished.[1][2] It refers to perfected masterswho have achieved a high degree of physical as wellas spiritual perfection or enlightenment. Siddha mayalso refer to one who has attained a siddhi, paranormalcapabilities.Siddhas may broadly refer to siddhars, naths, ascetics,sadhus, or yogis because they all practice sdhan.[3]

In Jainism, siddhas are the liberated souls who have de-stroyed all karmas and have obtained moksha.[4] Siddhasdo not have a body; they are soul in its purest form. Theyreside in the Siddhashila, which is situated at the top ofthe Universe.[5]

1 First usageThe rst usage of the term Siddha occurs in theMaitreyaUpanishad in chapter Adhya III where the writer of thesection declares I am Siddha.Sanasiddha is the name of an upasaka.[6]

Mahavira's nirvana, Kalpasutra, 1472

The Svetasvatara (II.12) presupposes a 'Siddha body.[7]

2 Hinduism

2.1 Siddha or siddhar (Tamil tradition)

Main article: Siddhar

In Tamil Nadu, South India, a siddha (see Siddhar) refersto a being who has achieved a high degree of physical aswell as spiritual perfection or enlightenment. The ulti-mate demonstration of this is that siddhas allegedly at-tained physical immortality. Thus siddha, like siddharrefers to a person who has realised the goal of a typeof sadhana and become a perfected being. In TamilNadu, South India, where the siddha tradition is still prac-ticed, special individuals are recognized as and calledsiddhas (or siddhars or cittars) who are on the path tothat assumed perfection after they have taken special se-cret rasayanas to perfect their bodies, in order to be able

1

2 3 SIDDHA IN JAINISM

to sustain prolonged meditation along with a form ofpranayama which considerably reduces the number ofbreaths they take. The siddha had a special power to y,which they divided into eight powers called attamasiddhi-gal.The well known 18 siddhars are listed below. The headof all siddhars is Sri Kagapujandar

1. Agasthiyar

2. Kamalamuni

3. Thirumoolar

4. Kuthambai

5. Korakkar

6. Thanvandri

7. Konganar

8. Sattamuni

9. Vanmeegar

10. Ramadevar

11. Nandeeswarar (Nandidevar)

12. Edaikkadar

13. Machamuni

14. Karuvoorar

15. Bogar

16. Pambatti Siddhar

17. Sundarandandar

18. Patanjali

2.2 Kashmir Shaivism

In the Hindu philosophy (of Kashmir Shaivism), siddharefers to a Siddha Guru who can by way of Shaktipat ini-tiate disciples into Yoga. A Siddha, in Tamil Siddharor Chitthar (see Chit/Consciousness), means one who isaccomplished and refers to perfected masters who, ac-cording to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara(ego or I-maker), have subdued their minds to be sub-servient to their Awareness, and have transformed theirbodies (composed mainly of dense Rajotama gunas) intoa dierent kind of body dominated by sattva. This is usu-ally accomplished only by persistent meditation.

3 Siddha in Jainism

Siddhas are the liberated souls. They have completelyended the cycle of birth and death. They have reached theultimate state of salvation. They do not have any karmasand they do not collect any new karmas. This state of truefreedom is calledMoksha. They are formless and have nopassions and therefore are free from all temptations.

Although the Siddhas (the liberated beings) are formless andwithout a body, this is how the Jain temples often depict the Sid-dhas

According to Jains, Siddhas have eight specic character-istics or qualities (8 guas). Ancient Tamil Jain Classic'Choodamani Nigandu' describes the eight characteristicsin a beautiful poem, which is given below.[8]

" "The soul that has innite knowledge (Ananta jnna, ), innite vision or wisdom (Anantadarshana, ), innite power (Ananta lab-dhi, ), innite bliss (Ananta sukha, ), without name (Akshaya sthiti,), without association to any caste (Beingvitraga, ), innite life span (Beingarupa, ) and without any change (Agu-ruladhutaa, ) is God.Thiruvalluvar in his Tamil book Thirukural refers to theeight qualities of God,[9] in one of his couplet poems.

6.1 The eighty-four Siddhas in the Varna(na)ratnakara 3

4 Siddha Paradise

Siddhashila (the realm of the liberated beings) according to Jaincosmology

The siddhas are liberated souls who arefree from the transmigratory cycle of birthand death and are above Arihant who possesskevala jana. A soul after attaining Siddha-hood go to the top of the loka (as per jain cos-mology) and stays there till innity. Siddhasare formless and dwell in Siddhashila with in-nite bliss, innite perception, innite knowl-edge and innite energy.

In Hindu cosmology, Siddhaloka is a subtle world (loka)where perfected beings (siddhas) take birth. They are en-dowed with the eight primary siddhis at birth.

5 SiddhashramaMain article: Siddhashrama

In Hindu theology, Siddhashrama is a secret land deep inthe Himalayas, where great yogis, sadhus and sages whoare siddhas live. The concept is similar to Tibetan mysti-cal land of Shambhala.Siddhashrama is referred in many Indian epics andPuranas including Ramayana and Mahabharata. InValmikis Ramayana it is said that Viswamitra had hishermitage in Siddhashrama, the erstwhile hermitage ofVishnu, when he appeared as the Vamana avatar. Hetakes Rama and Lakshmana to Siddhashrama to extermi-nate the rakshasas who are disturbing his religious sacri-ces (i.28.1-20).[10][11]

6 Siddha SampradayaMain articles: Nath and Mahasiddha

Whenever siddha is mentioned, the 84 siddhas and 9nathas are remembered, and it is this tradition of siddhawhich is known as the Nath tradition. Siddha is a termused for both mahasiddhas and naths So a siddha maymean a siddha, a mahasiddha or a nath. The three wordsare used interchangeably.

6.1 The eighty-four Siddhas in theVarna(na)ratnakara

A list of eighty-four siddhas is found in a manuscript(manuscript no 48/34 of the Asiatic Society of Ben-gal) dated Lakshmana Samvat 388 (1506) of a me-dieval Maithili work, the Varna(na)ratnkara writ-ten by Jyotirishwar Thakur, the court poet of KingHarisimhadeva of Mithila (reigned 13001321). An in-teresting feature of this list is that the names of the mostrevered naths are incorporated in this list along with Bud-dhist siddhcryas. The names of the siddhas found inthis list are:[12][13]

1. Minantha2. Gorakshantha3. Chaurangintha4. Chmarintha5. Tantip6. Hlip7. Kedrip8. Dhongap9. Drip10. Virup11. Kapli12. Kamri13. Knha14. Kanakhala15. Mekhala16. Unmana17. Kndali18. Dhovi19. Jlandhara20. Tongi21. Mavaha22. Ngrjuna23. Dauli24. Bhishla25. Achiti26. Champaka27. Dhentasa

4 6 SIDDHA SAMPRADAYA

28. Bhumbhari29. Bkali30. Tuji31. Charpati32. Bhde33. Chndana34. Kmari35. Karavat36. Dharmappatanga37. Bhadra38. Ptalibhadra39. Palihiha40. Bhnu41. Mina42. Nirdaya43. Savara44. Snti45. Bhartrihari46. Bhishana47. Bhati48. Gaganap49. Gamra50. Menur51. Kumri52. Jivana53. Aghosdhava54. Girivara55. Siyri56. Ngavli57. Bibhavat58. Sranga59. Vivikadhaja60. Magaradhaja61. Achita62. Bichita63. Nechaka

64. Chtala

65. Nchana

66. Bhilo

67. Phila

68. Psala

69. Kamalakangri

70. Chipila

71. Govinda

72. Bhima

73. Bhairava

74. Bhadra

75. Bhamari

76. Bhurukuti

6.2 The Siddhas in the Hatha YogaPradipika

In the rst upadea (chapter) of the Hatha YogaPradipika, a 15th-century text, a list of yogis is found,who are described as the Mahasiddhas. This list has anumber of names common with those found in the list ofthe Varna(na)ratnkara:[12][14]

1. dintha

2. Matsyendra

3. vara

4. nandabhairava

5. Chaurangi

6. Minantha

7. Gorakantha

8. Virupka

9. Bileaya

10. Manthna

11. Bhairava

12. Siddhibuddha

13. Kanthai

14. Koraaka

15. Surnanda

16. Siddhapda

517. Charpai

18. Kner

19. Pjyapda

20. Nityantha

21. Nirajana

22. Kapl

23. Binduntha

24. Kkachavar

25. Allma

26. Prabhudeva

27. Gho

28. Chhol

29. iii

30. Bhnuk

31. Nradeva

32. Khaakplika

7 See also Kagapujandar Religion in ancient Tamil country Sandha language Cit absolute consciousness

8 References[1] Denition: Mahasiddha (Indian Adept) & Siddha Ap-

pearance. http://www.himalayanart.org''.

[2] Siddha-asana The accomplished or adept pose. http://www.santosha.com''.

[3] Zimmermann, Marion (2003). A short introduction: TheTamil Siddhas and the Siddha medicine of Tamil Nadu.GRIN Verlag. p. 4. ISBN 9783638187411.

[4] The purpose of life in Jainism. http://www.religionfacts.com''.

[5] Jainism Cosmology. http://www.hinduwebsite.com''.

[6] P. 94 Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta In-scriptions By Tej Ram Sharma

[7] P. 156 Buddhist sects and sectarianism By Bibhuti Baruah

[8] J. Srichandran(1981), , Vardhamanan Padhipakam, Chen-nai, Page 18

[9] Ashraf, N.V.K. Tirukkural: Getting closeto the original In Spirit, Content and Style,http://web.archive.org/web/20080630190537/http://www.geocities.com/nvashraf/kureng/close01.htm,accessed on 22 March 2008

[10] Vyas, R.T. (ed.) (1992). Vlmki Rmyaa, Text as Con-stituted in its Critical Edition. Vadodara: Oriental Institute,Vadodara. p. 40.

[11] Hanumanta Rao, Desiraju (1998). Valmiki Ramayana,Bala Kanda, Chapter 29. valmikiramayan.net website.Retrieved 2009-10-21.

[12] Dasgupta, Sashibhusan (1995). Obscure Religious Cults,Firma K.L.M., Calcutta, ISBN 81-7102-020-8, pp.203,204

[13] Shastri Haraprasad (ed.) (1916, 3rd edition 2006). HajarBacharer Purano Bangala Bhasay Bauddhagan O Doha(in Bengali), Kolkata: Vangiya Sahitya Parishad, pp.xxxv-vi

[14] Sinh, Pancham (tr.) (1914). Hatha Yoga Pradipika,Chapter 1. sacred-texts.com website. Retrieved 2009-11-12.

9 External links Details of 18 Siddhas Tamil Siddha tradition

6 10 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses10.1 Text

Siddha Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha?oldid=667544335 Contributors: Xaven, Owen, Sharavanabhava, Rosarino, Kate,CALR, Rprabhu, Purplefeltangel, Mjuszczak, Idleguy, Ogress, HasharBot~enwiki, Hanuman Das, Anthony Appleyard, Bluemoose,BD2412, Srs, TheRingess, Mhking, Asarelah, Ninly, Doremi~enwiki, Sethie, SmackBot, Narayani~enwiki, Kintetsubualo, Coolian,Mairibot, Schmiteye, Bluebot, Thomaswalter, Seduisant, Ne0Freedom, Senthilkumaras, Beetstra, Jason7825, SriniG, Relax ull be ok,Gatoclass, Daniel J. Leivick, Keraunos, Joy1963, Dr. Blofeld, Indian Chronicles, Ekabhishek, ~enwiki, AtticusX, Indon,Mysteriouswriter, Arulraja, Mdsats, B9 hummingbird hovering, Phantomsnake, Jeepday, Morinae, Stanlypaul, Redtigerxyz, A Ramachan-dran, TXiKiBoT, Mapto, IPSOS, Buddhipriya, Drsureshherbal, Roland zh, Mahayogini, Achalasiddha, WereSpielChequers, Svm1 63,Randy Kryn, LAX, Dakinijones, Suresh Elangovan, Rayabhari, Arjayay, SchreiberBike, Editor2020, Rossen4, XLinkBot, Addbot, Verbal,Luckas-bot, Yobot, Kumslee, Againme, Gxsuresh, AnomieBOT, Piano non troppo, Santhoshselvam, Little Flower Eagle, Mprakash100,FrescoBot, HamburgerRadio, Siddhaquest, Dazedbythebell, FoxBot, Dinamik-bot, Alight108, Jothisilambam, Anuja0304, Sunilshamnur,Jujhar.pannu, GoingBatty, Kkm010, Shrikanthv, Amanhanda, Frietjes, Dream of Nyx, BG19bot, Mark Arsten, Joshua Jonathan, Rage-shav, Sabarikarthik1991, Aayush18, Bencn, Rockin It Loud, Avisbliss, Hotmuru, , Petemclaren, Readanything1729, Angel ofMischief, Bladesmulti, Sleeveman, IIDragonWolfII, Aravindhaskan, VincentDas, Jaivendra kr Jain, RightBKC, , Hayrettin Van Akenand Anonymous: 52

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First usageHinduismSiddha or siddhar (Tamil tradition)Kashmir Shaivism

Siddha in JainismSiddha ParadiseSiddhashramaSiddha SampradayaThe eighty-four Siddhas in the Varna(na)ratnakaraThe Siddhas in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika

See also ReferencesExternal linksText and image sources, contributors, and licensesTextImagesContent license