Shloka 37
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
जैगीषव्य उवाच ममाष्टगुणमैश्वर्य दत्त भगवता पुरा | यत्नेनान्येन बलिना वाराणस्यां युधिष्ठिर
Jaigīṣavya uvāca | mamāṣṭaguṇam aiśvaryaṃ dattaṃ bhagavatā purā | yatnena anyena balinā Vārāṇasyāṃ Yudhiṣṭhira ||
Jaigīṣavya sprach: „O Yudhiṣṭhira, vor langer Zeit gewährte mir der erhabene Herr (Śiva), mächtig und durch eine besondere, strenge Anstrengung meinerseits in Vārāṇasī zufrieden gestellt, die achtfache Herrschaftsmacht – jene acht Siddhis, beginnend mit aṇimā.“
जैगीषव्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual powers (aiśvarya/siddhi) are portrayed as fruits of disciplined effort and divine grace; they are granted when the deity is pleased, implying that attainment depends on inner striving aligned with devotion rather than mere desire for power.
Jaigīṣavya addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and recounts that, in the past at Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), Lord Śiva—mighty and satisfied by Jaigīṣavya’s special exertion—bestowed upon him the eight siddhis beginning with aṇimā.