Śivasaṃhitā 4.22

This verse introduces the awakening of kuṇḍalinī as the central event toward which all preceding practices ultimately point. The image is of a dormant power suddenly roused: the participle suptā («sleeping») stands in dramatic contrast with jāgarti («awakens, is awake»), creating the narrative tension between the ordinary human condition and its realized potential.

The term kuṇḍalinī derives from kuṇḍala, «coil, ring, spiral.» According to the tradition, this primordial energy rests latent in the mūlādhāra cakra, coiled three and a half times around the svayambhū liṅga. Guruprasāda — «the grace of the guru» — is the activating agent: prasāda carries connotations of both «grace» and «clarity, transparency,» suggesting that the teacher’s transmission dissolves the veils keeping this energy asleep.

The centrality of guruprasāda here reflects a genuine pedagogical concern embedded in the tradition. Kuṇḍalinī awakening without appropriate guidance was understood to risk severe psychological and physiological disruption. The qualified teacher transmits not only technique but also the capacity to hold and orient the transformative process that such an awakening sets in motion.