Śivasaṃhitā 4.17
Caturthaḥ paṭalaḥ — Mudrā
Sanskrit text
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Translation
Commentary
After the accumulation of hypothetical sins in the preceding verses, this verse delivers the logical conclusion: tasmāt (‘therefore’, an inferential particle) introduces the practical prescription. Abhyāsana (practice, training) must be nitya (daily, perpetual) and is declared kartavya (obligatory, what must be done) for the mokṣakāṅkṣin, those who ‘long for liberation’.
Abhyāsana is a verbal noun from abhi-ās (to practice repeatedly), cognate with abhyāsa, the term the Bhagavadgītā (VI.35) and Patañjali’s Yogasūtras (I.12–13) use to designate constant practice as the antidote to mental wandering. Nitya (eternal, daily) derives from the root ni (within, permanent). Mokṣakāṅkṣibhiḥ is a bahuvrīhi compound: ‘those whose desire (kāṅkṣā) is liberation (mokṣa)’.
The grammatical structure of the verse — with kartavya as an obligatory verbal adjective — transforms the recommendation into a categorical imperative. This is not a suggestion for enthusiasts but a binding prescription for anyone who claims liberatory aspirations, connecting directly with the ethics of sādhana that runs through all classical and medieval Yoga literature.