Śivasaṃhitā 5.232

The technique of japa has its own rhythmic precision: neither too fast (which generates agitation, creates noise in the prāṇa) nor too slow (which generates heaviness, tamas). The optimal tempo is that which synchronizes with the practitioner’s natural prāṇa rhythm at that moment, varying with the level of practice. Understanding phonetic relationships (akṣara-sambandha) adds the semantic dimension to the vibratory one.

Labdhvā = having obtained/received (from labh = to obtain, with the connotation of receiving as a gift), na drutam = without hastiness (druta = fast), na vilambitam = without excessive slowness (vilambita = delayed), sthira = steady/stable, nirudvega = without anxiety, akṣara-sambandha = relationship between letters/phonemes.

Obtaining the mantra «from the guru» (gurOR labdhvā) is an explicit condition of this instruction. The genitive (guroḥ) indicates the mantra comes from the guru as source, not merely through the guru as intermediary. The difference is significant: the guru does not transmit a learned technique but is the living condition from whose realization the mantra flows as transmission.