Siddhi

Siddhi (Devanagari सिद्धि; IAST: siddhi; Tibetan: དངོས་གྲུབ, Wylie: dngos grub) is a Sanskrit noun that can be translated as "perfection", "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success". The term is first attested in the Mahabharata. In the Pancatantra, a siddhi may be any unusual skill or faculty or capability. As a term in the Manusmriti, it refers to the settlement of a debt.

In the Samkhya Karika and Tattva Samasa, it refers to the attainment of eight siddhis that make one become rid of pain-causing ignorance, to gain knowledge, and experience bliss. In Tantric Buddhism, it specifically refers to the acquisition of supernatural powers by psychic or magical means or the supposed faculty so acquired. These powers include items such as clairvoyance, levitation, bilocation, becoming as small as an atom, materialization, having access to memories from past lives, etc. The term is also used in this sense in the Sarva-darśana-saṃgraha of Madhvacharya (1238–1317).

In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras IV.1 it is stated (rendered in IAST):

janma auṣadhi mantra tapaḥ samādhijāḥ siddhayaḥ

where janma ("birth"), auṣadhi ("medicinal plant, herb, drug, incense, elixir"), mantra ("incantation, charm, spell"), tapaḥ ("heat, burning, shining, as ascetic devotional practice, burning desire to reach perfection, that which burns all impurities"), samādhi ("profound meditation, total absorption"), jāḥ ("born") and siddhayaḥ ("perfections, accomplishments, fulfillments, attainments") are rendered in English by Iyengar (1966, 2002: p. 246) thus:

Accomplishments may be attained through birth, the use of herbs, incantations, self-discipline or samadhi.