The Second Treatise on the Perfections – 2833
6. The power of the noble ones (
ariya-iddhi
).
7. The power arising from deeds and results (
kamma-vipākajā-iddhi
).
8. The power arising from merit (
puññavanta-iddhi
).
9. The power arising from magicians (
vijjā-maya-iddhi
).
[1648]
10. The power that accrues from various accomplishments (
sammā-payoga-
iddhi
).
1. Power concerning resolution (
adhiṭṭhāna-iddhi
); when, for instance, one
resolves: “Let there be 100 or 1,000 copies of myself,” then the copies appear
miraculously, and their number is exactly what one has determined. It is the
power to project copies of oneself appearing. The copies may or may not be in
the same posture.
2. Power concerning transformation of oneself into the form of a Nāga or of a
Garuḷa (
vikubbana-iddhi
); here,
vi
- means “various” and
kubbana
“making.” It is
the power to make oneself assume various forms as one wishes.
3. Power concerning the creation of a mind-made image (
mano-maya-iddhi
),
that is, to create a miniature copy of oneself inside one’s own body.
Mano-maya
means “mind-made.” It is neither the projection of copies as in the case of power
concerning resolution (
adhiṭṭhāna-iddhi
) nor the transformation of one’s form
as in the case of the power concerning transformation of oneself into the form
of a Nāga or of a Garuḷa (
vikubbana-iddhi
). It is the power to create a miniature
copy of oneself inside one’s own body.
4. Power concerning miraculous phenomena due to the influence of imminent
supermundane wisdom (
ñāṇa-vipphāra-iddhi
). This power can be understood
from the stories of Ven. Bākula and others.
Ven. Bākula
The story of Bākula occurs in the commentary on the Great Disciples in the
Collection of the Numerical Discourses (AA 1.14.38; PTS 1.304, see also ch.
43.33). The following, in brief, is an extract from the same story.
Bākula was the son of a wealthy man of Kosambī. On the day his birth was
celebrated, the infant was taken to the River Yamunā for a ceremonial bath, but
he was swallowed by a fish. The fish, feeling very hot in the stomach, swam
away. On its arrival at Bārāṇasī, a certain fisherman caught it and hawked it in