Śivasaṃhitā 5.2

Śiva responds with the imperative śṛṇu — ‘listen’ — a word that in both Vedic and tantric tradition signals the opening of a sacred transmission. What follows is not abstract philosophy but a practical warning: obstacles are not accidental or external. They are sthitāḥ sadā, always present, woven into the fabric of ordinary human existence. Bhoga, sensory enjoyment, heads this list as the primordial impediment.

The Sanskrit word vighna (obstacle, impediment) derives from the root han (to strike) with the prefix vi, suggesting something that strikes against progress. In Hindu iconography, Gaṇeśa governs the vighnā — both placing and removing them. Here, however, the text turns to discernment rather than devotion: naming the obstacles is itself the first act of liberation. The near-rhyme of bhoga (enjoyment) and yoga (union) in Sanskrit is not coincidental — they are conceived as opposing orientations of human energy.

The tension between bhoga and yoga runs throughout haṭhayoga literature. The Haṭhapradīpikā (1.15–16) similarly enumerates yoga’s obstacles, though with different emphases. What distinguishes the Śivasaṃhitā is its systematic categorization — bhoga, dharma, and others — suggesting a structured pedagogy in which the aspirant must learn to recognize and renounce each distinct class of impediment before genuine practice can take root.