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Siddha (Sanskrit:सिद्धsiddha; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely inIndian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished."[1] It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of perfection of the intellect as well asliberation orenlightenment. InJainism, the term is used to refer to the liberated souls.Siddha may also refer to one who has attained asiddhi, paranormal capabilities.
Siddhas may broadly refer tosiddhars,naths,ascetics,sadhus, oryogis because they all practicesādhanā.[2]
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In Jainism, the termsiddha refers to liberated souls who have destroyed allkarmas and obtainedmoksha. They are free from the transmigratory cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra) and are aboveArihantas (omniscient beings). Siddhas do not have a body; they are soul in its purest form. They reside in theSiddhashila, which is situated at the top of the Universe.[3] They are formless and have no passions and therefore are free from all temptations. They do not have any karmas and they do not collect new karmas.
TheŚvetāmbaraĀcārāṅga Sūtra 1.197 describessiddhas in this way:
The liberated soul is not long nor small nor round nor triangular nor quadrangular nor circular; it is not black nor blue nor red nor green nor white; neither of good nor bad smell; not bitter nor pungent nor astringent nor sweet; neither rough nor soft; neither heavy nor light; neither cold nor hot; neither harsh nor smooth; it is without body, without resurrection, without contact (of matter), it is not feminine nor masculine nor neuter. The siddha perceives and knows all, yet is beyond comparison. Its essence is without form; there is no condition of the unconditioned. It is not sound, not colour, not smell, not taste, not touch or anything of that kind. Thus I say.[4]
According to Jains, siddhas haveeight specific characteristics orqualities. The ancientTamil Jain Classic 'Choodamani Nigandu' describes the eight characteristics in a poem, which is given below.[5]
கடையிலா ஞானத்தோடு காட்சி வீரியமே இன்ப
மிடையுறு நாமமின்மை விதித்த கோத்திரங்களின்மை
அடைவிலா ஆயுஇன்மை அந்தராயங்கள் இன்மை
உடையவன் யாவன் மற்று இவ்வுலகினுக்கு இறைவனாமேThe soul that has infinite knowledge (Ananta jnāna, கடையிலா ஞானம்), infinite vision or wisdom (Ananta darshana, கடையிலா காட்சி), infinite power (Ananta labdhi, கடையிலா வீரியம்), infinite bliss (Ananta sukha, கடையிலா இன்பம்), without name (Akshaya sthiti, நாமமின்மை), without association to any caste (Being vitāraga, கோத்திரமின்மை), infinite life span (Being arupa, ஆயுள் இன்மை) and without any change (Aguruladhutaa, அழியா இயல்பு) is God.
The following table summarizes the eight supreme qualities of a liberated soul.[6]
| Quality | Meaning | Manifestation |
|---|---|---|
| Kśāyika samyaktva | infinite faith or belief in the tattvas or essential principles of reality | manifested on the destruction of the faith-deluding (darśana mohanīya) karma |
| Kevala Jnāna | infinite knowledge | on the destruction of the knowledge-obscuring (jnānāvarnīya) karma. |
| Kevaladarśana | infinite perception | on the destruction of the perception-obscuring (darśanāvarnīya) karma |
| Anantavīrya | infinite power | on the destruction of the obstructive (antarāya) karma |
| Sūksmatva | fineness | manifested on the destruction of the life- determining (āyuh) karma |
| Avagāhan | inter-penetrability | manifested on the destruction of the name-determining (nāma) karma |
| Agurulaghutva | literally, neither heavy nor light | manifested on the destruction of the status-determining (gotra) karma |
| Avyābādha | undisturbed, infinite bliss | manifested on the destruction of the feeling-producing (vedanīya) karma |
Because of the quality ofSūksmatva, the liberated soul is beyond sense-perception and its knowledge of the substances is direct, without the use of the senses and the mind. The quality ofavagāhan means that the liberated soul does not hinder the existence of other such souls in the same space.
A soul, after attaining siddhahood, goes to the top of theloka (as per Jain cosmology) and stays there for eternity.
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In Hinduism, the first usage of the term siddha occurs in theMaitreya Upanishad in chapter Adhya III where the writer of the section declares "I am Siddha."[citation needed]
In Hindu theology,Siddhashrama is a secret land deep in the Himalayas, where great yogis, sadhus andsages who are siddhas live. The concept is similar to Tibetan mystical land ofShambhala.
Siddhashrama is referred in many Indian epics and Puranas includingRamayana andMahabharata. In Valmiki's Ramayana it is said that Viswamitra had his hermitage in Siddhashrama, the erstwhile hermitage ofVishnu, when he appeared as theVamanaavatar. He takes Rama and Lakshmana to Siddhashrama to exterminate therakshasas who are disturbing his religious sacrifices (i.28.1-20).[7][8]
Whenever siddha is mentioned, the 84 siddhas and 9 nathas are remembered, and it is this tradition of siddha which is known as the Nath tradition. Siddha is a term used for bothmahasiddhas and Naths So a siddha may mean a siddha, a mahasiddha or a nath. The three words are used interchangeably.
A list of eighty-four siddhas is found in a manuscript (manuscript no 48/34 of the Asiatic Society of Bengal) dated Lakshmana Samvat 388 (1506) of a medievalMaithili work, theVarna Ratnakara (devnagari: वर्ण-रत्नाकर) written byJyotirishwar Thakur, 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 naths are incorporated in this list along with Buddhist siddhācāryas. The names of the siddhas found in this list are:[9][10]
In the firstupadeśa (chapter) of theHatha Yoga Pradipika, 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 theVarna(na)ratnākara:[9][11]
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InTamil Nadu, South India, a siddha (seesiddhar) 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 attainedphysical immortality. Thus siddha, likesiddhar, refers to a person who has realised the goal of a type ofsadhana 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 secretrasayanas to perfect their bodies, in order to be able to sustain prolonged meditation along with a form ofpranayama which considerably reduces the number of breaths they take. Siddha were said to have special powers including flight. These eight powers are collectively known as attamasiddhigal (ashtasiddhi). InHindu cosmology,Siddhaloka is a subtle world (loka) where perfected beings (siddhas) take birth. They are endowed with the eight primarysiddhis at birth.
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The Svetasvatara (II.12) presupposes a siddha body.[12]
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