Śivasaṃhitā 4.30

The instruction is concise but technically precise: the complete sequence of Mahāmudrā must be performed first on the left side (vāmāṅgena) and then repeated symmetrically on the right (dakṣāṅgena). This bilateral balance is not merely physical; in the energetic system of Hatha Yoga, it corresponds to the balanced activation of iḍā and piṅgalā, the lunar and solar channels respectively.

Vāmāṅga (‘left limb’, ‘left side’) refers to vāma, which in Sanskrit means both ‘left’ and ‘beautiful’, and in tantric contexts designates feminine energy. Dakṣāṅga (‘right limb’) derives from dakṣa, ‘skilled’, ‘dexterous’. Samabhyasya (‘having practiced completely’, ‘having exercised well’) implies that each side must be completed in full before moving to the other.

Bilaterality is a fundamental principle in classical Hatha Yoga mudrās. Practicing only one side would unbalance the energetic flow in the nāḍīs. This instruction connects directly to the doctrine of suṣumnā: only when iḍā and piṅgalā are balanced can prāṇa flow through the central channel, an indispensable condition for the awakening of kuṇḍalinī described in the preceding verses.