Śivasaṃhitā 3.16

The verse names two conditions for siddhi (success, perfection, attainment): śraddhā (faith) and ātmavattā (self-possession, literally «having the ātman»). The pairing is deliberate — faith without self-mastery risks credulity; self-mastery without faith risks technical arrogance. Only their conjunction guarantees the result. Niścitā («certain, determined») frames this not as probability but as law.

Śraddhā (from śrat-dhā, «to place one’s heart in», «to entrust») is among the richest terms in Sanskrit spiritual vocabulary. It does not mean blind belief but a confident orientation toward what has not yet been fully realized. Ātmavatāṃ is the genitive plural of ātmavat («one who has the ātman», «master of oneself»), designating the practitioner who has gained sovereignty over their own inner processes.

This verse functions as a hinge between the guru section (verses 12–15) and the technical instructions that follow. Before describing prāṇāyāma and āsana, the text establishes the inner profile of the qualified practitioner: not the most flexible or externally disciplined, but one who combines genuine faith with self-knowledge. The Śivasaṃhitā here anticipates a psychology of the practitioner that later hatha texts would develop at length.