The Shiva Samhita: A Critical Edition and An English Translation (English and Sanskrit Edition)

A work of Yoga coming from a tantric tradiction, the Shiva Samhirta deals both with physical yoga and subtle yoga which deals with the Kundalini energy. The text makes mention of winds entering and doing things in several places, without stating it up front this yoga it is making the body ready for the Kundalini energy to rise. It is interesting to see how the original author talked about this aspect of yoga, but line by line translation while helpful, is sometimes too literal which makes some subtle aspects hard to understand. In that respect it would have benefited from some annotation. Another spot where some annotation would have helped is towards the end where the text deals more directly with shakti/Kundalini/and goddeses related to them. I can see how a student not understanding clearly the relevance would glance over this most useful section. However, the author states that he set out to make a literal translation so I cannot fault him for that. The introduction is well written and helps place things in context as well as point out difficult point. The index is comprehensive which makes cross referencing easy. The pictures are clear and usefully placed and the book itself is well made. Over all I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in tantric yoga.

I've now purchased and enjoyed all three volumes of YogaVidya.com's series of classic Hatha Yoga texts. The preceding titles are "Hatha Yoga Pradipika" and "Gheranda Samhita", which I read in that order, and I concluded with the present volume (I've read the "Bhagavad Gita", but not the YogaVidya edition). I very much enjoyed this book, but am glad I read it after the other two volumes. I can't comment on the Sanskrit translation, but the translated English text contains many beautiful passages, and Chapters 1 ("Vital Principles") and 5 ("Meditation") add valuable perspectives to the Hatha literature. I did find, however, that more work/research was required of the reader of this book than for the prior two entries. In the other volumes, most potentially unknown terms were defined/explained in footnotes, but footnotes are relatively scarce here (granted, far more "exotic" terms are used in this book than in the others). Even though I have decent familiarity with yogic terminology, I found significant research required (e.g. for "vijñana nadis" on p. 116 and "chyle" on p. 120). I concur with a previous reviewer that a glossary would be helpful. Notwithstanding, I strongly recommend this book, and the whole YogaVidya series, with the proviso that "Shiva Samhita" is best read last.

Very biased translation, the editor sounds angry in his Introduction, and leaves out a lot of fine points that the scholarly-minded reader may want to know. It's still a VERY valuable text for any serious Yoga practitioner, but a more scholarly version, with notes on language, with a notes section, is seriously needed.

Jame Mallinson did a wonderful job compiling and translating the Shiva Samhita. Apparently, he checked several thousand variant readings and believes "the Sanskrit in his book is the first to be based on a truly critical study of the manuscripts of the text."His interpretation of the Shiva Samhita (Shiva's Text) is easy to read and understand, and his introduction gives a clear and informative background of the text.The Shiva Samhita is an ancient yoga text that covers subjects such as the five elements (space, air, fire, water, Earth), gunas (qualities), karma (action and re-action), abstinences and observances, kundalini (latent energy life force at the base of the spine), nadis (energy channels), chakras (energy whirlpools), mudras (seals), bhandas (energy locks), postures, meditation, chanting, and diet, among others. Seven postures (three of which are in the mudras and bhandas section) are described and shown with photos.The Shiva Samhita is a must read for yoga practitioners.Please note: I bought the paperback version because I couldn't tell from the book preview whether or not the Kindle version contained photos.

This is an important text combining Hatha Yoga with Advaita Vedanta, written in the southern tantric Sri Vidya style. One thing you must know before buying this is that there is no commentary. In order to understand what is being said and to decode the mantras you will need a lot of prior experience studying other Sanskrit texts from the same genre.

Well done! This book is very easy to read and provides a great synopsis of Yoga and how it benefits the body and mind. Furthermore, the book illustrates right living in a way that is understandable to the common reader. I am impressed with the authors ability to translate information that is ancient into a format that is palatable to the present time. I will certainly purchase the other two books in the series. I am also impressed with the publisher. Although this is a small company, the response time was very prompt, the books are affordable, and ship very quickly. I would recommend that other consumers check out the website- YogaVidya.com and explore the merchandise for sale.

Since receiving this book i have read most of it and it is the best book i have found on the deeper concepts of yoga, the part "Mahabandha" (half Lotus) on page 84 where it says "fill his belly with air and tap his buttocks," would be a little confusing if I had not already practiced the technique with Maya Fennes. She calls them body drops. So a student new to yoga would probably find the Shiva Samhita a little overwhelming. I have studied yoga for many years and i find this book has increased my understanding ten-fold. Thanks go to the publisher [...] for making this translation available.Cathy Sanders of Yoga in Lascassas, TN