This affordable, authoritative edition of the Shiva Samhita contains a new introduction, the original Sanskrit, a new English translation, nine full-page photographs, and an index. It includes beautiful teachings found nowhere else. This is the first edition of this classic Yoga text to meet both high academic and literary standards, the first to be based on a truly critical study of the Sanskrit manuscripts. It's for people who practice Yoga, and for anyone with an interest in health and fitness, philosophy, religion, spirituality, mysticism, or meditation.

From the Introduction

Composed over five centuries ago, the Shiva Samhita is one of the most celebrated root texts of Hatha Yoga. It includes beautiful teachings found nowhere else. This edition contains the original Sanskrit, properly edited and printed for the first time, and a new, accurate translation thereof. It also features photographs of the asanas and mudras described therein.

"James Mallinson has just produced the most reliable Sanskrit edition and English translation of the Shiva Samhita available. I praise his painstaking and learned work, which is well complemented by a crisp, informative, no-nonsense introduction. The accuracy and readability of this book make it of great interest to anyone working on Yoga and related disciplines."

—Elizabeth De Michelis, Oxford University, Author of A History of Modern Yoga

Table of Contents:

Introduction

The Vital Principle

Knowledge

Practice

Mudras

Meditation

Contributors

Index