''Shiva Samhita'' (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: śivasaṃhitā, also ''Siva Samhita'', meaning "Shiva's Compendium") is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

text on

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

, written by an unknown author. The text is addressed by the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

to his consort

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

. The text consists of five chapters, with the first chapter a treatise that summarizes nondual Vedanta (

Advaita Vedanta ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...

) philosophy with influences from the

Sri Vidya Shri Vidya ( ISO: '; ; sometimes also spelled Sri Vidya or Shree Vidya) is a Hindu Tantric religious system devoted to the Goddess as Lalitā Tripurasundarī (''Beautiful Goddess of the Three worlds''), Bhuvaneshvari, Maha Lakshmi, etc. A thous ...

school of South India. The remaining chapters discuss yoga, the importance of a

guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

(teacher) to a student, various

asana An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...

mudra A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

s and

siddhi In Indian religions, (Sanskrit: '; fulfillment, accomplishment) are material, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of yogic advancement through sādhanās such as meditation ...

s (powers) attainable with yoga and

tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...

. The ''Shiva Samhita'' is one of three major surviving classical treatises on

hatha yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

, the other two being '' Gheranda Samhita'' and ''

Hatha Yoga Pradipika The ''Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā'' ( or Light on Hatha Yoga) is a classic fifteenth-century Sanskrit manual on haṭha yoga, written by Svātmārāma, who connects the teaching's lineage to Matsyendranath of the Nathas. It is among the most inf ...

''. It is considered the most comprehensive treatise on hatha yoga, one that recommends that all householders practice and benefit from yoga. Over a dozen variant manuscripts of the text are known, and a

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...

of the text was published in 1999 by Kaivalya Dham Yoga Research Institute.

Date and location

''Shiva Samhita'' has been dated by some scholars to be a 17th-century text, while others such as

James Mallinson James Mallinson (1943 – 24 August 2018) was a British record producer. He was the first winner of the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical category, and won a total of 16 Grammy Awards in his career. He won his first three Grammy a ...

– a scholar of Sanskrit and Oriental Studies known for his

Hatha Yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

publications, dates the text to be pre-1500 CE, probably between 1300 and 1500 CE. Based on statements contained within the text, Mallinson also believes that the ''Shiva Samhita'' was composed in or around

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

Content

''Shiva Samhita'' declares itself to be a

text, but also refers to itself as a

in its five chapters. The first chapter starts with the statement, states Mallinson, that "there is one eternal true knowledge", then discusses various doctrines of self liberation (

moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

) followed by asserting that Yoga is the highest path. The opening chapter largely presents the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, but in the Sri Vidya tantra format and style. The second chapter describes how the external observable macro-phenomenon are internalized and have equivalents within one's body, how the outside world is within in the form of ''nadis'' (rivers, channels), fire, jiva and others. The third chapter explains the importance of a

(teacher, advisor), its various physiological theories including five elements that constitute the body, stages of yoga practice and a theory of

asanas An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...

(postures). The fourth chapter presents

mudras A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

and states that yoga practice can lead to special siddhis (powers) and awakening of the

kundalini In Hinduism, Kundalini ( sa, कुण्डलिनी, translit=kuṇḍalinī, translit-std=IAST, lit=coiled snake, ) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ''Shakti'') believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the ''muladhara'' ...

(inner dormant energy). The fifth chapter is the longest of five chapters in the text. It discusses what prevents an individual's self-liberation, types of students, inner energies and sounds, a theory and description of

chakra Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...

s and

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

s. The ''Shiva Samhita'' talks about the complex yoga physiology and names 84 different asanas. It teaches only four of the asanas:

siddhasana Siddhasana ( sa, सिद्धासन; ) or Accomplished Pose, is an ancient seated asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise suitable for meditation. The names Muktasana (Sanskrit: मुक्तासन, Liberated Pose) and Burmese ...

, padmasana, paschimottanasana, and svastikasana. Mallinson states that it is the first text to describe paschimottanasana, a pose resembling

dandasana Pashchimottanasana ( sa, पश्चिमोत्तानासन, translit=paścimottānāsana), Seated Forward Bend, or Intense Dorsal Stretch is a seated forward-bending asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise. Janusirsasana is a ...

as taught in the '' Patanjalayayogashastra'', but with the body folded forward and the hands grasping the feet. It describes five specific types of ''

prana In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, " life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is ...

'', and provides techniques to regulate them. It also deals with abstract

yogic Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

philosophy,

s, tantric practices, and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

. The text states that a householder can practice yoga and benefit from it. Paschimottanasana

Translations

Many English translations of ''Shiva Samhita'' have been made. The earliest known English translation is by Shri Chandra Vasu (1884, Lahore) in the series known as "The Sacred Books of the Hindus" The translation by Rai Bahadur and

Srisa Chandra Vasu Sris Chandra Basu or Srish Chandra Vasu (20 March 1861 – 23 June 1918) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar, judge, writer and translator of numerous works. He translated major yoga texts such as the '' Yogaśāstra'', the '' Gheranda Samhita'', and t ...

in 1914, also in the series known as "The Sacred Books of the Hindus", was the first translation to find a global audience. However, it omits certain sections (such as

vajroli mudra ''Vajroli mudra'' (Sanskrit: वज्रोली मुद्रा ''vajrolī mudrā''), the Vajroli Seal, is a practice in Hatha yoga which requires the yogin to preserve his semen, either by learning not to release it, or if released by dra ...

) and is considered inaccurate by some. In 2007, James Mallinson made a new translation to address these issues. The new translation is based on the only available critical edition of the text — the one publIshed in 1999 by the

Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center The Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center (abbreviated Kaivalyadhama), founded by Swami Kuvalayananda in 1924, is a spiritual, therapeutic, and research center with a specific aim to coordinate ancient yogic arts and tradition with moder ...

References

External links

Critical edition with English translation (2007)
by

An English translation
based on the 1914 edition translated by

Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...

and another unidentified edition (registration required for download)
An English translation (1887)
by

''Siva Samhita'' Sanskrit text with English translation - Srisa Chandra Vasu
{{Hatha yoga Hindu texts Works of unknown authorship Hatha yoga texts