Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.18.19

prakalpya vatsaḿ kapilaḿ

siddhāḥ sańkalpanāmayīm

siddhiḿ nabhasi vidyāḿ ca

ye ca vidyādharādayaḥ

SYNONYMS

prakalpya — appointing; vatsam — calf; kapilam — the great sage Kapila; siddhāḥ — the inhabitants of Siddhaloka; sańkalpanā-mayīm — proceeding from will; siddhim — yogic perfection; nabhasi — in the sky; vidyām — knowledge; ca — also; ye — those who; ca — also; vidyādhara-ādayaḥ — the inhabitants of Vidyādhara-loka, and so on.

TRANSLATION

After this, the inhabitants of Siddhaloka, as well as the inhabitants of Vidyādhara-loka, transformed the great sage Kapila into a calf, and making the whole sky into a pot, they milked out specific yogic mystic powers, beginning with aṇimā. Indeed, the inhabitants of Vidyādhara-loka acquired the art of flying in the sky.

PURPORT

The inhabitants of both Siddhaloka and Vidyādhara-loka are naturally endowed with mystic yogic powers by which they not only can fly in outer space without a vehicle but can also fly from one planet to another simply by exerting their will. Just as fish can swim within water, the residents of Vidyādhara-loka can swim in the ocean of air. As far as the inhabitants of Siddhaloka are concerned, they are endowed with all mystic powers. The yogīs in this planet practice the eightfold yogic mysticism — namely yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. By regularly practicing the yogic processes one after another, the yogīs attain various perfections; they can become smaller than the smallest, heavier than the heaviest, etc. They can even manufacture a planet, get whatever they like and control whatever man they want. All the residents of Siddhaloka are naturally endowed with these mystic yogic powers. It is certainly a very wonderful thing if we see a person on this planet flying in the sky without a vehicle, but in Vidyādhara-loka such flying is as commonplace as a bird's flying in the sky. Similarly, in Siddhaloka all the inhabitants are great yogīs, perfect in mystic powers.

The name of Kapila Muni is significant in this verse because He was the expounder of the Sāńkhya philosophical system, and His father, Kardama Muni, was a great yogī and mystic. Indeed, Kardama Muni prepared a great airplane, which was as large as a small town and had various gardens, palatial buildings, servants and maidservants. With all this paraphernalia, Kapiladeva's mother, Devahūti, and His father, Kardama Muni, traveled all over the universes and visited different planets.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness