Śivasaṃhitā 1.97

The human body as the most refined expression of the cosmic emanation process. It is not an accident or an inferior form: it is the result of the most elaborate combination of the five elements, and for that very reason is the ideal vehicle for yogic practice and liberation. Pāramaiṣṭhya (of supreme rank, of excellent position) is not naïve praise but a philosophical observation.

Pāramaiṣṭhya (the most elevated, of supreme rank) derives from parama (supreme) and aiṣṭhya (position, station). The body (gātra) is not just any body but specifically the human body, recognized in all Dharmic traditions as the most apt vehicle for liberation. Pañcabhūtavinirmitam (built from the five elements, fashioned of the five mahābhūta) underscores its material composition without implying spiritual inferiority.

The affirmation of the dignity of the human body closes the arc of the first chapter: from the critique of partial philosophical systems and the description of the Absolute, the Śivasaṃhitā arrives at the valuation of the body as the supreme vehicle. The following chapters will develop the practices through which that excellent body becomes an instrument of liberation—āsana, prāṇāyāma, mudrā, samādhi.