Śivasaṃhitā 5.45

This is one of the Śivasaṃhitā’s most celebrated verses, a fourfold declaration of supremacy that places four practices at the summit of their respective categories. Siddhasana—the posture of the siddha—is crowned above all other positions; kumbhaka—breath retention—as the most powerful of all forces; khecarīmudrā—the seal of the one who flies through space—as the most exalted of all mudrā; and nāda—the inner sound—as the most direct path toward final absorption.

Siddha (“perfect,” “accomplished”) names a posture that in the Haṭhapradīpikā is described as most effective for samādhi: the heel presses the yoni (perineum) while the other foot rests on the thigh, creating a specific prāṇa circulation. Kumbhaka—from kumbha, “pot” or “vessel”—describes retained breath as water held in a sealed container. Khecarī—“one who flies through space (khe)“—is the mudrā in which the tongue is folded back toward the nasopharyngeal cavity.

The hierarchy of this verse reflects the pedagogical organization of classical haṭhayoga: first āsana to stabilize the body, then prāṇāyāma (kumbhaka) to master prāṇa, then mudrā to awaken kuṇḍalinī, and finally nāda to dissolve the mind. The Śivasaṃhitā, by declaring nāda supreme in the category of laya, is affirming the preeminence of layayoga as the final door to samādhi.