The Nectar of Devotion - 1970 ISKCON press edition ... - Prabhupada

Characteristics of Pure Devotional Servicellhe likes he can take fruit from a garden there. This is priipti-siddhi.The modern scientists have manufactured nuclear weapons withwhich they can destroy an insignificant part of this planet, but bythe yoga-siddhi known as isitii one can create and destroy an entireplanet simply at will. Another perfection is called vasitii, and bythis perfection one can bring anyone under his control. This is a kindof hypnotism which is almost irresistible. Sometimes it .is found thata yogi who may have attained a little perfection in this vasitii mysticpower comes out among the people and speaks all sorts of nonsense,controls their minds, exploits them, takes their money and then goesaway.There is another mystic perfection which is known as priikiimya(magic). By this priikiimya power one can achieve anything he likes.For example, one can make water enter into his eye and then againcome out from within the eye. Simply by his will he can performsuch wonderful activities.The highest perfection of mystic power is called kiimiivasiiyitii.This is also magic, but whereas the priikiimya power acts to createwonderful effects within the scope of nature, kiimiivasiiyitii permitsone to contradict nature-in other words, to do the impossible. Ofcourse, one can derive great amounts of temporary happiness byachieving such yogic materialistic perfections.Foolishly, people who are enamored of the glimmer of modernmaterialistic advancement are thinking that the Krl).a consciousnessmovement is for less intelligent men. "I am better off being busy withmy material comforts-maintaining a nice apartment, family and sexlife." These people do not know that at any moment they can bekicked out of their material situation. Due to ignorance, they do notknow that real life is eternal. The temporary comforts of the bodyare not the goal of life, and it is due only to darkest ignorance thatpeople become enamored of the glimmering advancement of materialcomforts.Snl.a Bhaktivinode Thakur has therefore said that the advancementof material knowledge renders a person more foolish because it causesone to forget his real identification by its glimmer. This is doom for