Śivasaṃhitā 4.14

The verse describes two ritually weighty acts: dīkṣā (initiation) performed vidhānena (according to prescribed procedure), and abhiṣeka (consecration by sprinkling) repeated sahasradhā, literally ‘in a thousandfold manner’. These are not superficial symbolic gestures but structural transmissions that reconfigure the disciple’s relationship to practice.

Dīkṣā derives from the root dā (to give) combined with kṣi (to destroy), suggesting that initiation simultaneously grants and destroys: it opens access to practice while eliminating prior karmic obstructions. The gerund abhiṣiñcya (from abhi-ṣic, ‘to sprinkle upon’) evokes the ancient Vedic royal abhiṣeka rite, here transposed into the yogic domain.

Within the fourth chapter of the Śivasaṃhitā, these ritual prerequisites frame the subsequent teaching on mudrās. These are not techniques anyone can learn from a manual; their efficacy depends on living transmission from the guru. This insistence on the initiatory chain distinguishes classical Haṭha Yoga from many of its modern adaptations.