Siddhas

Siddha, “the perfected ones”

The siddhas, the perfected ones, are a gaṇa (host) of celestial beings whom the Vāmana Purāṇa names again and again beside the devas, the gandharvas, the yakshas and the vidyādharas. Brahmā laid down their dharma: the practice of yoga, the study of the Vedas, the attainment of brahma-vijñāna (the knowledge of Brahman) and, above all these, unwavering bhakti.

They stand with the devas in every great gathering. They rose when Vīrabhadra entered Daksha‘s yajña, watched the wars of the devas and dānavas from the sky, marched in the deva host against Bali, and honour Bhagavān Śiva, whom they praise as Hara. They served Kātyāyanī Devī on the Vindhya and followed Devī Ambikā to svarga after her victory over Śumbha and Niśumbha. With the devas and dānavas they praise Bhagavān Vishṇu as Vāmana in Brahmā’s house. They dwell in the caves of Mount Malaya and on Mount Trikūṭa, they serve the holy land of Kurukshetra, they go from tīrtha to tīrtha until they gain kāyaśodhana, the cleansing of the body, and they installed the Siddheśvara liṅga there.

The dharma of the siddhas

The rākshasa king Sukeśī, who lived by dharma, asked the maharshis of a forest in Magadha what the marks of dharma are. They told him the dharmas that Brahmā laid down for the twelve yonis (classes of beings), each of which gives that class a good destination. For the siddhas the dharma is the practice of yoga, the study of the Vedas, the attainment of brahma-vijñāna, and, beyond these, unwavering bhakti.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 11

Among the devas

When Vīrabhadra entered the yajñaśālā of Daksha, all the devas there rose: the eight Vasus, the nine grahas, the twelve Ādityas, the eleven Rudras, the Viśvedevas, the Sādhyas, the siddhas, gandharvas and kiṃpurushas, the pannagas, the yakshas and the rest.

By his tapas the daitya Andhaka won from Mahādeva the vara that he could not be conquered or slain by devas, siddhas, ṛshis or pannagas. When his armies met Indra‘s host near Meru, the munis and siddhas stood in the sky sounding dundubhis and watched that fearful battle, while the apsarās welcomed the heroes slain facing the enemy. Later, when Andhaka’s stotra named the beings who praise Bhagavān Śiva by his many names, it said that the siddhas praise him as Hara. At Śiva’s wedding the Nāgakaṅkaṇa, adorned with bhasma on every limb, is the one worthy of the salutation of the siddhas and yakshas. And in the teaching of Asita that Prahlāda gave Andhaka, Bhāskara, Vasishṭha, Manu and Agastya, who never left the dharma of their lineage, gained the power of śāpa and grace and became worthy of the pūjā of the devas and the siddhas.

When the dānava hosts of Bali came to war, the siddhas set out with the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Sādhyas, Viśvedevas, Aśvins, vidyādharas, yakshas, pannagas, rājarshis and the bhūtagaṇas, on elephants, horses, chariots, vimānas and bird-vāhanas. When the daitya Kālanemi grew by māyā until his body filled the directions, the devas, gandharvas, yakshas, siddhas and sādhyas fled before him. After Indra’s year of tapas on the bank of the Mahānadī, when Gadādhara had freed him of pāpa, he received the pūjā of the suras, the siddhas and the yakshas.

The caves of Mount Malaya are the dwellings of the siddhas. Mount Trikūṭa, the son of Meru that rose out of the ocean of milk, is served by the gandharvas, kinnaras, apsarases, siddhas, cāraṇas, pannagas and vidyādharas, together with their wives.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4, 9, 27, 40, 44–45, 47, 50, 58

With Devī Kātyāyanī

When Kātyāyanī Durgā climbed the highest peak of the Vindhya, resolved to slay the rākshasas, the devas, siddhas, uragas, vidyādharas, bhūtagaṇas and apsarases forgot their troubles and stayed in her service. After Mahisha fell, the Mahādevī received the prayers of the suras and siddhas, said she would be born again for the work of the devas, and went to the feet of Hara. After the fall of Śumbha and Niśumbha, Ambikā saluted the brāhmaṇas, sent away the bhūtagaṇas and went to svarga, followed by the hosts of siddhas.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 21, 30

The siddhas and Vedavatī

Vedavatī, the daughter of Parjanya and Ghṛtācī, fell from the sky with the branch of a tree that a vānara had hurled into the ocean. All beings cried out, and the siddhas and gandharvas lamented: “Alas! This chaste one was blessed by Brahmā himself to become the chief queen of Mahārāja Indradyumna, the son of Manu, who performed a thousand yajñas, and now this plight!” Drawn by the words of the siddhas, Indradyumna cut through the falling tree, and Vedavatī was not hurt.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 39

With Bhagavān Vishṇu as Vāmana

Telling Bharadvāja of the places where he dwells, Vāmana said that his principal aṃśas, fashioned by the devas, dānavas and siddhas, are on the earth. When Bhagavān Vishṇu remained in Brahmā‘s house in the Vāmana form, the apsarās danced there, the deva singers sang, the vidyādharas played auspicious instruments, and the devas, dānavas and siddhas, in groups, praised him with stotras.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 62, 66

At Kurukshetra

The devas, ṛshis and siddhas always serve Kurujāṅgala, and for that reason they see Brahman within themselves. Brahmā and the other devas, the ṛshis, siddhas, yakshas, gandharvas and apsarās serve that kshetra to keep their own positions. The siddhas devoted to tīrthas keep travelling from tīrtha to tīrtha until they gain kāyaśodhana, the cleansing of the body, which the tīrtha of that name gives.

At the Sthāṇu tīrtha, any siddha mahātmā who worships the Sthāṇu liṅga attains the supreme siddhi and goes to the world from which there is no return. West of the mahāliṅga that Rudra himself installed in Asthipañjara stands the famous Siddheśvara liṅga, installed by the siddhas, which grants every siddhi.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 12, 14, 24–25

Sources

• Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4, 9, 11, 19, 21, 27, 30, 39–40, 44–45, 47, 50, 58, 62, 66
• Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 12, 14, 24–25