Q. Baba, you have all the powers. You must tell me about them.

A. Yes, there are powers. But there’s no point talking about them. The superpowers are called vibhutis. They are also called siddhis — and because the principal potencies are eight in number, they are called ashta siddhis. Anima, laghima, garima, praapti, prakaamya, ishitva, vashitva, kaamavashayitva...etc. One does not need great austerity to gain these. These may be had by simply leading a pure life for twelve years or so. If you observe brahmacharya for twelve years or so, these powers will be yours. Miracles are commonplace.

The purpose of spirituality is Ishwara darshan — direct vision of God. Those who get caught in these powers are lost. They will not have a vision of God. They exhibit their powers and the devotees flock to them. Then one day, their powers are gone and people disappear as quickly as they had appeared.

But that’s not all. The next stage for a person who comes into siddhis is to be dubbed as God. People begin to say, ‘You are God Himself. You are Ram incarnate; you are Krishna incarnate; you are surely Ramakrishna; you are verily Vivekananda and so on.’ Now, the holy men actually begin to believe that they have ascended to the level of Godhead. And they fall.

So, coming back to the siddhis. Yes, they exist. Mahavira used anima (atomization), he became a cat while entering Lanka. He became heavy, garima, on the Mahendra mountain peak. He was pranayama siddha. He did a little bit of pranayama, meditation, stabilized his breath, offered salutation to mother, father and Pawan Deva and then began to expand.

Q. How powerful is praarabdha? Who can rescue one from one’s praarabdha?

A. Praarabdha is extremely powerful. Just like an arrow which has already left the bow, it cannot be retrieved. One must face the praarabdha. However, a satguru, for sure, can rescue one from praarabdha.

Q. Why do we see some very good people suffer in this world?

A. Everything must have an equal and opposite reaction. This is the law of karma too. When we see a good person suffer, we must understand that some old sins are being washed away. This is called paap kshaya, the wearing away of sins. Everybody has to go through the effects of one’s karmas. They could be of this life or the past lives. Suffering is a positive sign. It means in time to come the person is going to be free.

But with God’s and Guru’s Grace, these sufferings can be reduced. If in consequence of your bad karmas you are supposed to lose your leg, in its place you may have to merely experience the pain of a thorn prick. The degree of pain you have to undergo will be reduced by God’s grace, but you have to go through some effect of the karma, because that is the law.

Q. Why do you give such great importance to praarabddha?

A. Is there any alternative than to accord it importance? As we can see shubh praarabddha, the favourable and imminent portion of karmic payoff, takes a person in the right direction while ashubh praarabddha, the unfavourable and imminent portion of karmic payoff, takes a person in the wrong direction.