Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, 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 ||
阇耆沙毗耶说道：“噢，郁提施提罗，久远以前，世尊湿婆以大力者之威，因我在婆罗那西（Vārāṇasī）所行别样而艰苦的精进而欢喜，遂赐我八种自在神通——以‘微细’（aṇimā）为首者。”
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.