The Vedas, śāstras and Purāṇas are like common courtesans;only the secret śāmbhavī mudrā is like a noble wife.

This bold verse subordinates all sacred literature to direct practice:

Veda-śāstra-purāṇāni — the sacred texts of orthodox Hinduism: Vedas (primordial revelation), śāstras (technical treatises), Purāṇas (sacred mythology).

Sāmānya-gaṇikā iva — like common courtesans.They are available to everyone, they are offered publicly, they do not require an exclusive relationship.The metaphor is provocative and typically tantric.

Ekaiva śāmbhavī mudrā — only the śāmbhavī mudrā.This specific practice is worth more than all scriptural scholarship.

Guptā kulavadhūr iva — secret like a wife from a good family.Kula-vadhū is the noble, faithful woman, accessible only to her husband.Gupta means hidden, secret.

The contrast is deliberate: public knowledge versus private initiation;information available to everyone versus esoteric transmission.

The Bihar School interprets this as emphasizing experience over study.The texts prepare but do not replace practice.The śāmbhavī mudrā (described below) produces direct experience that no text can confer.

Mallinson notes that this iconoclastic attitude is characteristic of left-wing Tantrism.