Śivasaṃhitā 1.9

This verse states the direct consequence of adhering to any of the partial paths enumerated: saṃsāra, the cycle of rebirths. Etanmatāvalambī («one who clings to these doctrines») signals that the problem lies not in the individual practices themselves but in the clinging (avalamba) to them as absolute truths. Accumulation of both durita (demerit) and puṇya (merit) equally perpetuates the cycle.

Mata (doctrine, opinion) and avalamba (support, hanging onto) form a revealing compound: grasping at an opinion as though it were a lifeline. Durita derives from dur- (difficult, bad) and ita (what has gone), evoking «what has gone wrong». Puṇya designates merit accumulated through good actions, yet here it is placed on par with durita in its capacity to bind the soul.

The equivalence of puṇya and durita as sources of rebirth is a philosophically far-reaching position shared by Jainism, Buddhism, and Advaita: even spiritual merit, if it generates attachment to its fruits, becomes a golden chain. The Śivasaṃhitā thus points toward a knowledge that transcends the duality of good and evil entirely.