Śivasaṃhitā 4.16

This verse enumerates four of the so-called mahāpātaka or capital sins of the brahminic tradition: killing one’s own guru (guruhā), drinking fermented liquor (surāpī), theft (steyī), and lying in the guru’s bed (gurutalpagaḥ). The list is nearly identical to that found in the Manusmṛti (XI.54–55), situating the text in direct dialogue with classical dharmic normativity.

Guruhā combines guru with the agentive suffix -han (one who kills). Surāpī derives from surā (liquor, rice wine) and pā (to drink). Steyī comes from steya (theft). The most socially grave, gurutalpaga, combines guru, talpa (bed, couch), and the suffix -ga (one who goes to), designating one who commits adultery with the master’s consort.

The rhetorical strategy is transparent: if even these extreme transgressors — the most polluted according to brahminic social code — can be purified by the practice the text describes, its power is truly universal. Haṭha Yoga thus presents itself as a path that transcends ritual purity categories established by the varṇa system.