Śivasaṃhitā 3.52

An instruction of sustenance: while the practitioner has not yet attained complete mastery of kumbhaka, they must maintain (prakurvīta, the verb kṛ- in potential form) observance of the rules. Tāvatkālam — for that time, during that entire period — indicates a duration dependent on individual progress, not a fixed number of days or years. Discipline naturally ceases when the objective has been achieved, not when an arbitrary date has been fulfilled.

Yogoktaniyamagraha is a revealing compound: yoga + ukta (the said, the prescribed) + niyama (observance, rule) + graha (to hold, to take firmly). Adherence to rules is not an end in itself but the temporary scaffolding of transformation. Graha (from grah-, to grasp, take) implies an active and deliberate act of maintenance — not the passivity of one who simply «does not do» what is prohibited, but the positive grasp of what is prescribed.

This verse functions as a hinge between the description of prāṇāyāma stages and the exposition of powers obtained. The Śivasaṃhitā reminds the reader excited by powers that there is no shortcut: the niyamas are maintained until the body no longer needs them. The clarity of this structure — effort while necessary, freedom when mastery is achieved — is one of the text’s most pragmatic contributions.