What Are The Eight Siddhis?

The fifth chapter of Durga Saptashati, Devi Mahatmyam.
We have seen up to the 8th shloka which is -
रौद्रायै नमो नित्यायै गौर्यै धात्र्यै नमो नमः।
ज्योत्स्नायै चेन्दुरूपिण्यै सुखायै सततं नमः।
Now, the 9th shloka -
कल्याण्यै प्रणतां वृद्ध्यै सिद्ध्यै कूर्म्यै नमो नमः।
नैरृत्यै भूभृतां लक्ष्म्यै शर्वाण्यै ते नमो नमः॥
Kalyani - auspicious.
Devi bestows auspiciousness upon her devotees.
कल्यां अणतीति कल्याणी - her voice is sweet, she always speaks what is good.
प्रणतावृद्धिः - those who bow before her, she ensures that they progress. The only thing you have to do is to bow before her, she will make you progress.
सिद्धिः - the eight siddhis, they are all her powers.
Powers given by her.
The animadi siddhis.
What is anima?
Power to make the body as small as you want, as tiny as an atom.
When Garuda went to take amrita from Swargaloka, the amrita kumbha was protected by a high-speed wheel with sharp teeth and spokes.
He made his body tiny using anima siddhi and got in through the middle of the spokes.
The opposite of this mahima - the power to make the body as huge as you want.
When Lord Vishnu was about to destroy the asuras Madhu and Kaitabha, they were supposed to keep their heads on the Lord's thigh so that he could cut them away.
They kept on increasing their size.
The Lord also kept on increasing the size of his thighs, this is mahima shakti.
Garima - Power to make the body or organs of the body very heavy, as heavy as you want.
When Bheema was on his way to get the kalyana saugandhika flower for Draupadi, Hanumanji wanted to teach him a lesson.
Bheema was a bit arrogant about his strength.
Of course, Bheema is Hanumanji's younger brother.
Both are sons of Vayu deva.
Hanumanji took the form of an old monkey and lied down with his tail blocking Bheema's path.
When Bheema asked him to remove the tail from his path, Hanumanji said: you please do it, I am so old, I don't have the strength.
Bheema tried to brush it aside.
No.
He then put his gada under the tail and tried to lift it.
The gada got stuck there.
This is garima siddhi. garima shakti.
Hanumanji had applied garima shakti on his tail.
Laghima is to make the body as light as you want.
It is with this siddhi that Hanumanji crossed the ocean.
Prapti is the power to get objects from far away sitting where you are.
Prakamya - special powers:
To enter into a fire without getting burned.
To stay underwater for days without suffocating.
To burn something simply by looking at it.
To fill water in a port simply by looking at it.
These are all possible, you see.
These are all powers you can develop.
Ishitwa - Power to bring these in another body or object as well.
Like how Lord Krishna made Govardhana light and lifted it up.
He applied laghima upon Govardhana.
Vashitwa - siddhi to bring even those more powerful than you under your command.
Devi can bless you with all these eight siddhis.
Now the next term has three different versions
कूर्म्यै and कुर्मो
कूर्मी is earth, mother earth.
She is the shakti of Kurmavatara.
What is the nature of this shakti?
It is with this shakti that the Adikurma bears the load of the earth upon his back.
It is with this shakti that the Lord as Kurma bore the load of the Mandara parvata during the churning of the ocean.
This shakti can be कौर्मी also.
कूर्म्यै - कौर्म्यै
If it is कुर्मः, then it is कुर्मो नमो नमः
वयं कुर्मो नमो नमः
It simply means that we are offering namaskaras.
In that case it will be -
कल्याण्यै प्रणतावृद्ध्यै सिद्ध्यै कुर्मो नमो नमः ।
What is nirruti ?
Nirruti is the direction Southwest in Vastu.
This is associated with negative forces, asuri shaktis.
निष्क्रान्ता ऋतेः इति निरृतिः
moved away from the path of righteousness.
Devi is being addressed as Nirruti here because asuri shaktis are also her own manifestations, tamasik manifestations.
Nirruti is also Alakshmi, poverty, absence of Lakshmi, absence of prosperity.
Or bad wealth, wealth acquired through unfair means.
भूभृतां लक्ष्मै -
Bhubhrit has two meanings - mountain and king.
Precious minerals and gemstones are hidden in the mountains, she is such Lakshmi, such wealth.
She is the prosperity, and wealth of the kings.
Sharvanyai - Sharva is Shiva. Sharvani is Shiva's wife. Goddess Parvathy.
ते नमो नमः - Namaskaras to you.