Śivasaṃhitā 5.170

This verse articulates one of the most radical principles of Advaita Vedānta as applied to yogic practice: the awareness of the jīva is fundamentally autonomous and independent of external conditions. The dichotomy apavitra (impure) / pavitra (pure) and the phrase ‘in all states’ (sarvāvasthā) directly challenge ordinary ritual logic, which would condition practice upon the prior purity of the practitioner.

The notion of the jīva as self-supported (svataḥsiddha) belongs to Vedāntic technical vocabulary. The instruction to render the mind equally self-supported — resting in itself without external props — is a precise meditative directive: do not seek an outer foundation for awareness; do not depend on objects, states, or circumstances to recognize one’s own nature. This points directly toward the non-conceptual stillness of nirvikalpa samādhi.

Historically, this teaching represented a significant departure from strict Brahmanical ritualism, which tied the efficacy of practice to caste purity and ritual correctness. The Śivasaṃhitā, consonant with the broader Tāntric movement, democratizes access to realization: any state of being is a valid starting point. This radical inclusivity — the insistence that no condition disqualifies a practitioner — remains one of Tantrism’s most enduring contributions to Indian spiritual thought.