Texts / Śivasaṃhitā / Verse 3.34

Śivasaṃhitā 3.34

Tṛtīyaḥ paṭalaḥ — Sādhana

Sanskrit text

प्रौढवह्निः सुभोगी च सुखीसर्वाङ्गसुन्दरः । सम्पूर्णहृदयो योगी सर्वोत्साहबलान्वितः ।

Transliteration

prauḍhavahniḥ subhogī ca sukhīsarvāṅgasundaraḥ | sampūrṇahṛdayo yogī sarvotsāhabalānvitaḥ |

Translation

Now I will tell you the means by which success in Yoga is quickly obtained; it must be kept secret by the practitioner so that success may come with certainty. 11 The Siva Samhita – Chapter III 35. The great Yogi should observe always the following observances – He should use 1: clarified butter, 2: milk, 3: sweet food, and 4: betel without lime, 5: camphor; 6: kind words, 7: pleasant monastery or retired cell, having a small door; 8: hear discourses on truth, and 9: always discharge his household duties with vairagya (without attachment), 10: sing the name of Vishnu; 11: and hear sweet music, 12: have patience, 13: constancy, 14: forgiveness, 15: austerities, 16: purifications, 17: modesty, 18: devotion, and 19: service of the Guru.

Commentary

The portrait of the advanced yogin painted by this verse is unequivocal: not the ascetic consumed by penance but a being radiant with health and fullness. Prauḍhavahni (mature, powerful fire) points to digestive agni — the metabolic thermostat of āyurvedic medicine — as the primary indicator of spiritual progress. One who correctly practices prāṇāyāma generates more vital energy, not less.

Sampūrṇahṛdaya (completely full heart) is one of the text’s most beautiful compounds. Hṛdaya designates not merely the cardiac organ but the subtle center of being, the anāhata cakra of tantric tradition. Subhogī (one who enjoys well, who rejoices correctly) subverts the asceticism-equals-spirituality equation: the yogin enjoys the world with complete presence, without the toxicity of compulsive attachment.

This verse forms a deliberate counterpoint to the preceding verses’ restrictions. The Śivasaṃhitā uses the positive pole tactic: first describes what is renounced, then paints the luminous portrait of the result. A pedagogy that recognizes the fundamental human need to aspire toward something concrete and truly desirable, not merely to flee from the harmful.

Key terms

vairāgya āsana abhyāsa
Verse 3.33
All verses
Verse 3.35