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 ||
جَیگیشویہ نے کہا—“اے یُدھِشٹھِر! قدیم زمانے میں وارانسی میں میری ایک جداگانہ اور سخت ریاضت سے خوش ہو کر بھگوان شِو نے مجھے اَṇِما وغیرہ آٹھ گونہ اِیشوری سِدھّیاں عطا کی تھیں۔”
जैगीषव्य उवाच
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.