Śivasaṃhitā 1.7

This verse closes the enumeration by introducing two practices with a more explicitly yogic and devotional orientation: mantrayoga and tīrthānusevana (the regular visiting of sacred pilgrimage sites). With mantrayoga the text touches its own tradition: the Śivasaṃhitā is itself a tantric-yogic text that later describes four types of yoga, mantra being the first among them.

Mantra combines man- (mind, to think) with -tra (instrument, protection), designating the syllable or formula that protects and transforms the mind. Tīrtha («ford», «river crossing») applies to sacred sites where the divine and human intersect; anusevana means «regular frequenting» or «continuous service», from anu- (following) and sev (to serve, to practice).

The fact that mantrayoga itself appears here merely as one opinion among others—rather than as the definitive answer—is hermeneutically bold. The text momentarily distances itself from its own method to signal that even the most sophisticated practices, if absolutized, can become obstacles to liberation.