Texts 8-9
tri-kāla-jñatvam advandvaṁ
para-cittādy-abhijñatā
agny-arkāmbu-viṣādīnāṁ
pratiṣṭambho ’parājayaḥ
etāś coddeśataḥ proktā
yoga-dhāraṇa-siddhayaḥ
yayā dhāraṇayā yā syād
yathā vā syān nibodha me
tri-kāla-jñatvam — the perfection of knowing past, present and future; advandvam — being unaffected by dualities such as heat and cold; para — of others; citta — the mind; ādi — and so on; abhijñatā — knowing; agni — of fire; arka — the sun; ambu — water; viṣa — of poison; ādīnām — and so on; pratiṣṭambhaḥ — checking the potency; aparājayaḥ — not being conquered by others; etāḥ — these; ca — also; uddeśataḥ — merely by mentioning their names and characteristics; proktāḥ — are described; yoga — of the yoga system; dhāraṇa — of meditation; siddhayaḥ — perfections; yayā — by which; dhāraṇayā — meditation; yā — which (perfection); syāt — may occur; yathā — by which means; vā — or; syāt — may occur; nibodha — please learn; me — from Me.
The power to know past, present and future; tolerance of heat, cold and other dualities; knowing the minds of others; checking the influence of fire, sun, water, poison, and so on; and remaining unconquered by others — these constitute five perfections of the mystic process of yoga and meditation. I am simply listing these here according to their names and characteristics. Now please learn from Me how specific mystic perfections arise from specific meditations and also of the particular processes involved.
According to the ācāryas these five perfections are considered to be quite inferior to the others already mentioned, since they involve more or less ordinary physical and mental manipulations. According to Śrīla Madhvācārya, in the perfection called agny-arkāmbu-viṣādīnāṁ pratiṣṭambhaḥ, or checking the influence of fire, sun, water, poison, and so on, the term “and so on” refers to one’s remaining invulnerable to all types of weapons as well as attacks by nails, teeth, beating, curses and other such sources.