Śivasaṃhitā 5.17

The Śivasaṃhitā traces with precision the categories of those excluded from yogic transmission. The fickle (capala) lacks the consistency practice demands; the cowardly (kātara) lacks the courage needed to traverse difficult inner states. This selection is not elitism—it is protection: certain practices demand a minimum psychological structure so as not to produce harm in the practitioner.

Capala derives from cap, “to move quickly,” denoting structural mental restlessness. Kātara indicates one who trembles before inner danger, unable to sustain the intensity of the yogic process. Rogī—the sick—lacks the physical support that deep prāṇāyāma requires. Parādhīna (“dependent on another”) signals the absence of the autonomy indispensable for inner sādhana.

In the tantric tradition, selecting disciples was the sacred responsibility of the teacher. An emotionally unstable, physically weakened, or psychologically dependent student could transform the transmission into trauma. This verse reflects an evaluation protocol shared by classical texts—Haṭhapradīpikā, Gheraṇḍasaṃhitā: the teacher would observe the candidate for months before any initiation.