Śivasaṃhitā 5.114

This verse presents a compound practice: inner meditation on the bāṇaliṅga paired with the physical gesture of reversing the tongue into the upper palate, known as khecarīmudrā. These two elements—subtle visualization and somatic technique—work in tandem to redirect prāṇa upward and anchor awareness in a concentrated point. The promised fruit is fearlessness and the immediate dissolution of accumulated karma.

The bāṇaliṅga (बाणलिङ्ग) is a naturally formed ovoid stone, most famously found in the Narmadā River, venerated as a spontaneous manifestation of Śiva. The qualifier dvitīyaka (‘second’) places this object within a sequence of meditative supports described across the chapter. Nityam (नित्यम्), meaning ‘constantly’ or ‘always’, insists that this is not an occasional exercise but a sustained orientation of the mind.

The claim that even a single moment of stable concentration destroys sin is characteristic of Tantric soteriology, which prizes intensity of awareness over duration of ritual. This contrasts with Vedic karmic frameworks requiring long accumulation of merit, and reflects the Śivasaṃhitā’s Śākta-Śaiva orientation, where direct contact with the absolute, however brief, is transformatively sufficient.