Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Foundation for the Attainment of Elixir is a technical manual on the manipulation of subtle winds (prāṇa) and the application of yogic mudrās to achieve spiritual accomplishment. The text argues that the union of the masculine and feminine principles, represented by the liṅga and the jo, serves as the root instruction for transforming the practitioner's consciousness. It details a process of binding the body and directing the winds upward through the central channel to untie cosmic knots associated with deities such as Brahmā, Īśvara, and Viṣṇu, thereby overcoming ignorance and disease. The work commits the reader to a rigorous regimen of physical yogic exercises (yantra) and breath control, asserting that the precise application of the equalizing wind and the binding of the anus are necessary to scatter mental obscurations and realize the true meaning of Mahāmudrā. Ultimately, the text presents these instructions as a path to becoming all-knowing and transforming one's existential state.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the accomplishment of nectar, the Amṛtasiddhimūla is a work belonging to the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. Attributed to the Indian author Virūpa, the text was translated into the classical Tibetan language by Eṇadeva. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཞི, where it extends over six pages. The work enacts a system of yogic practice centered on the union of masculine and feminine principles, represented by the liṅga and the jo. It argues that the precise application of winds and the use of mudrās allow the practitioner to untie the cosmic knots associated with deities such as Brahmā, Īśvara, and Viṣṇu, thereby abandoning ignorance and opening the hidden door of the uṣṇīṣa. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine its technical instructions on the manipulation of subtle winds and the ritual of binding, which serve as the root instructions for spiritual accomplishment. By detailing the process of directing winds to scatter mental obscurations, the treatise provides a primary example of the physical and energetic regimens used to realize the meaning of Mahāmudrā.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Foundation for the Attainment of Elixir” (Toh 2285), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2285
Summary & commentary
Significance
This work is significant for its integration of Hatha-style physical yogic practices with the higher philosophical goals of Mahāmudrā. It illustrates the tradition's view of the body as a microcosmic map where the dissolution of cosmic knots corresponds to the removal of spiritual obstructions.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocation and Introduction
Homage to Heruka and an introduction to the root instructions regarding the union of the god and goddess mudrās.
3
Cosmic and Subtle Dissolution
Description of the shaking of Mount Meru and the sequential untying of the knots of Brahmā, Īśvara, and Viṣṇu.
4-5
Yogic Application
Instructions on binding the limbs, inhaling wind, and using yantra and wind application to move the winds upward.
6
Conclusion
Final remarks on the Instruction of Jo and the resulting transformation of the practitioner.
Themes
Wind Manipulation (Prāṇāyāma) (2, 4, 5)
Mudrā and Union (2, 6)
Untying Cosmic Knots (3)
Physical Yoga (Yantra) (4, 5)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaThe Foundation for the Attainment of Elixir·
In the language of India: Amṛtasiddhimūla-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Bdud rtsi grub pa’i rtsa ba (The Root of the Accomplishment of Nectar). Homage to the glorious Heruka!
To the one endowed with three eyes, with severed head, and red in color; who dispels the fear of death; who holds the mudrā of the male and female yogis; and who protects through the samādhi of Virūpa—to the feet of that mudrā, I bow.
I shall explain the Mahāmudrās. Any person who hears this will be honored by all the gods. Having performed vast and excellent deeds throughout thousands of millions of births, one who attains this will cross to the far shore of the ocean of saṃsāra.
Block the anus with the heel of the left foot. Slightly extend the right leg and grasp the instep with the thumb and hand. Pressing the throat against the heart is the application for blocking the nine gates. One should strike the three channels in their proper sequence. This is the Karma-mudrā.
Gathering the mind into a single point, one should collect the winds into one and begin the binding of the winds. Unify the sun and the moon; by doing so, the winds are arrested. This is the Samaya-mudrā.
Reverse the wheel of the anus upward. Raise the bindu with sound upward. All the channels are thoroughly stirred, and the supreme channel ascends. Through the application of body, speech, and mind, one should accomplish the Body, Speech, and Mind. Through the stability of familiarization, one’s own fire becomes clear. By means of this mudrā, the yogi will certainly proceed everywhere.
This is the union of the union,
Which is held to be the root instruction.
This is the application of the winds;
The wise should accomplish this.
One should know the two mudrās:
Know the ritual of binding as it is.
The jo is the mudrā of the goddess,
And the liṅga is the mudrā of the god.
From the union of male and female,
Birth occurs in the external world.
By means of these two unions as they are,
Birth should be made secret within.
The channels have the form of a woman;
Without the man, there is no fruit.
Without the distinction between
The great mudrā and the great binding,
There is no fruit.
The winds should be gathered into a single wheel;
One should act according to the binding.
The yogi should dismantle it;
One should dismantle one’s own wind and mind.
One should dismantle it through the stages of union.
Having made the wind powerful,
One should cause it to enter the gate of the central channel.
The four wheels should be pierced by the wind.
With both hands, form the liṅga mudrā.
Having placed that upon the ground,
Plant the tips of the feet on the ground.
By means of striking the thighs,
The wind should be dismantled by the wind.
The wind should be lifted by the wind;
The wind should be slain by the wind.
By the wind pervading everything,
The wind bestows all accomplishments.
Through the wind, one becomes immortal.
By that, the nectar is accomplished;
This I, Virūpa, have correctly explained.
Through the well-bound activity of the body,
By the ten million tips of the vajra wind,
Into the midst of Mount Meru,
By this application of summoning,
The knots of Brahmā and the others should be dismantled.
The gods go to the summit of Mount Meru; Mount Meru itself shakes, and by that, all are rendered unconscious. The gods, beginning with Brahmā, are slain. By the first application, the knot of Brahmā is to be untied. Then the knot of Īśvara is untied; having untied that, Viṣṇu is untied. Then, ignorance and the rest are abandoned. The hidden door of the uṣṇīṣa is opened by the wind; that is the "Great Piercing." The "Great Binding" and the "Great Piercing"—the third is the "Great Seal" (Mahāmudrā). These are the three secret empowerments. Through these, the accomplishment of the application is renowned. Whoever knows these three realities knows the three worlds. Whoever has familiarized themselves with this will become the sovereign of all. He will become the god of the secret gods and the lord of the lords of men. He will have mastery over all empowerments; everything without exception will be surpassed. Therefore, he is the lord of all gods; this is asserted as the Dharma Seal. One should familiarize oneself with the Great Seal; from this seal, everything arises. The great accomplishment arises. That which is the Great Seal is twofold: the supreme and the liberation from death. Bliss arises in the body and mind. Merely by abiding in the mind, one will not be born in a womb. The first name is "Syllable"; I shall explain the application. This is the application of one endowed with faith. The yogi will certainly accomplish the Great Seal. I shall explain the Great Seal.
The feet and hands should be bound; having inhaled the wind three times, one should pull all the channels. By rising, the channels are directed upward. Having conquered all diseases, the meaning of Mahāmudrā is also perfected. Just as a mass of blazing clouds gathered in the sky is scattered by the force of the wind, so too, although this body is completely permeated by disease, it should be destroyed by the wind of skillful means. This is Mahāmudrā. With the hands of Jayadhārikarma, the five elements should also be massaged through the activity of the ritual. By means of this wheel of power, which abides in the great binding, the world of the gods above is terrified. By this extension and contraction of the hands, even the four directions are made to tremble. By extending the feet downward, all the nāgas are terrified. When the senses are weary and exhausted, one should rest in the state of one-pointed mind. I shall now explain the application of the binding: the wind will hold the body. Two types of binding should be known: how the bindu abides, and the goddess of the jovibhadha. The binding of the throat is the deity. One should clearly grasp the mudrās of the "filling" and the "vase." Secret to all gods and asuras, through the yogic binding, one should direct [the wind] to the gate of the central channel. Having completely blocked the three paths, the wind should be held within. The life-force wind should also be moistened. By doing so, it flows downward; in an instant, it should be bound.
Through the application of the upper and lower winds,
One should blend them with the equalizing wind and burn.
By that, they are moved upward.
Possessing the binding of the anus,
The winds are thoroughly contracted
And drawn upward.
Through physical yogic exercises (yantra) and wind application,
One should disperse and firmly bind them.
One should meditate on the three paths of union.
In this way, within the human body,
The path of accomplishment is made very clear;
Experience arises and the body flourishes,
And one does not even grow old.
The channels that flow continuously
And always move downward—
By this great binding,
They are completely reversed.
The nature of things is to flow downward;
Just as water flowing in a canal
Is reversed by being bound,
So too, within the internal body,
The yogi should always understand
That which moves to the exterior of the body.
All the channels of the body without exception
Are renowned as being bound by this.
By the power of this binding,
All the deities will become clear.
Thus, by means of the four mudrās,
The three paths are blocked.
The single path is made clear;
One proceeds upon the path of the accomplished deity.
The two paths of birth and death
Are explained as the lower path.
Therefore, having abandoned the two faults
That are the causes of merit and sin,
One should thoroughly equalize the vase-like
Reality of the winds.
Having prepared the upper path,
Through the application together with the wind,
Just as the flow of water is blocked by binding,
All movement is completely arrested.
Therefore, by his kindness, it is renowned as the "Instruction of Jo." A person who possesses the path of accomplishment will be transformed, and not otherwise. By knowing this mudrā, even if one is arrogant, one is endowed with the true meaning. Thus, one is all-knowing. This concludes "The Accomplishment of Nectar," composed by the great master Virūpa. It was translated by the Indian abbot, the yogi who attained accomplishment, the Indian Edeva.
Translation status: Not among 84000's published translations, and not in progress there. Translations published elsewhere have not been searched for, so one may exist. (source: 84000 catalogue + registry; checked 2026-11-10).
Set in Newsreader and EB Garamond; Tibetan in Noto Serif Tibetan; Chinese in Noto Serif SC.