Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text, titled Vāyusthānarogaparīkṣā-nāma in Sanskrit and Rlung gnas nad kyi brtag pa in Tibetan, presents a synthesis of medical pathology and tantric yoga. It frames the physiological movement of winds (rlung) not merely as biological functions but as elements tied to the cycle of saṃsāra and the attainment of nirvāṇa. The author argues that the imbalance of these winds, specifically their relationship with bile and phlegm, affects the practitioner's divine abodes and mental stability. The work transitions from a diagnostic mapping of specific winds—such as the Sugata-wind and the wind of delusion—to a prescriptive methodology for overcoming the terror of the death-wind. By committing the reader to a practice of visualization and the stabilization of the Sugata-wind, the text proposes that the manipulation of internal winds is the primary mechanism for achieving a state of non-duality and escaping the instability of impermanence.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the examination of wind-site diseases, the Vāyusthānarogaparīkṣaṇa is attributed to the Indian author Ayogin. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition as the rlung gnas nad kyi brtag pa, the work is found within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works collection. The source edition is the Tengyur, volume ཟི, where the text extends over three pages. The work enacts a synthesis of medical pathology and tantric yoga, framing the physiological movement of winds not merely as biological functions but as elements tied to the cycle of saṃsāra and the attainment of nirvāṇa. It argues that imbalances in winds—specifically their relationship with bile and phlegm—affect the practitioner's divine abodes and mental stability. The text transitions from a diagnostic mapping of specific winds, such as the Sugata-wind and the wind of delusion, to a prescriptive methodology for overcoming the terror of the death-wind. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to understand how the manipulation of internal winds, through visualization and the stabilization of the Sugata-wind, is proposed as the primary mechanism for achieving a state of non-duality.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “An Analysis of the Diseases of the Winds and Their Locations” (Toh 2407), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2407
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for illustrating the intersection of Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) and Vajrayana praxis, where anatomical locations are treated as sites for spiritual transformation. For the modern reader, it demonstrates how traditional Tibetan systems conceptualize the mind-body relationship through the movement of subtle energies.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Invocation and a philosophical framing of attachment as the basis of saṃsāra.
2
Wind Locations and Pathologies
Identification of specific winds, their locations, and their relationship to the three humors.
3
The Death-Wind and Remediation
Discussion of the psychological effects of the death-wind and the use of visualization to achieve non-duality.
Themes
Physiological-Spiritual Correlation (1-3)
The Nature of Impermanence (3)
Subtle Body Energetics (2-3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaAn Analysis of the Diseases of the Winds and Their Locations·
In the language of India: Vāyusthānarogaparīkṣā-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Rlung gnas nad kyi brtag pa zhes bya ba. Homage to the glorious Heruka!
Attachment to virtue and non-virtue is the basis of saṃsāra; freedom from attachment to these is the yoga of nirvāṇa. When the fire and wind abide in the place of attachment, the water of the wind and the moving nature of the mind are purified. By that, all conceptual thoughts are gradually ceased, just like a person in water or space. As the black fire and wind drive away appearances, the wisdom of the white crystal and so forth is accomplished.
The first limb, the head, is the abode of delusion; by meditating as before, that itself is wisdom. The two eyes of the sun and moon are attached to the five sense faculties. The wisdom of the navel, the limb of the body, abides in the life-force channel within the wheel of attachment. There, in the twelve months, are the twelve channels; the measure of the body is one fathom square. The four continents of Jambudvīpa and the eight sub-continents arise; the wind emerges perfectly through the gates of the sun and moon. The south and north are the paths of the sun and moon; from the middle month of summer until the north, there are nine; the winter months should be known as being in the south. In the middle months of autumn and spring, day and night are equal. Now, regarding the count of the yogic winds: a moment, an instant, and a brief duration are one; eight sessions and half-sessions are established as three hundred and sixty. One year is to be known as the bindu of the syllable HŪṂ. Through the gates of the sun and moon, the five winds do not circulate from themselves but circulate from elsewhere; when the wind of the glorious yogi reverses, illness will arise.
Regarding the names and locations of the winds: the Sugata-wind, which abides between the stable and the moving, increases bile. The wind of delusion moves sequentially through the head as the water-wind. Through the arising of phlegm, the yogi’s divine abodes decline. The moving wind flows through the channels of others; if it becomes attached at the knots, heat is lost and cold arises. The fire-wind abides between the water-winds; when one holds the coarse wind and becomes exhausted, fierce hatred eventually arises as the heart-wind. When the three poisons and winds gather at the site of their convergence, the mental faculties are deluded by the disease of the convergence. If the winds do not flow in the Sugata-abode but flow elsewhere, know this to be the disease of the yogi’s karma. Since the medicine and the physician reside within one’s own body, from the drops of the eight maṇḍalas of the body, one should focus the mind on the eight vital points, four each, twelve finger-widths above. By holding the bee-wind through yogic exercises, the disease is expelled. If the wind does not enter the central channel but is held in the four channels, the yogi’s realization will dawn in this way: through the earth-wind, the body is heavy and the mind is unclear. One sees the moon crossing the impermanent waters, and various signs such as springs and the like arise. It is extremely difficult for the yogi to possess full flesh; if one walks on level ground, the lungs and heart throb. The signs of having seized the wind-wind are: cold arises, the body boils, and the drops leak. The stomach aches, there is vertigo, and the limbs contract. The signs of seizing the fire-wind are: bile increases, the mind declines, heat arises, and the upper body feels heavy and aches. One does not see dream omens but sees red appearances.
The death-wind is terrifying; the mind is unhappy, wishing to flee. One cannot escape the flight and fall of impermanence. By holding the Sugata-wind, the mind abides in non-duality. To clear the obstacles of what has been summoned, proceed in this sequence:
By means of visualization, ignite fire to burn the earth element. At the eight springs, the yogi’s steam billows forth. When the water overflows, purify the earth and sweep with the wind. At dawn, when Akṣobhya is cold, one should drink. Meditate on fire within the wind, and roll the great hriḥ into the intestines. By striking with the "stump-thrust," the pores of the body are opened. Meditate on the wheels and the cold is dispelled.
If the wind does not enter the central channel and other water-winds enter, the illness of phlegm will arise; thus, purify the two orifices. Adopt the physical posture, imagine the water overflowing and steam billowing. Focus the mind on the emergence of the two, fire and wind. If bile arises, let the snow-water overflow. The body is filled with nectar; from the snow, smoke billows forth. Apply the nectar of the Guru at the crown of the head to the body.
The yogi who holds the wind of wind should train in the samādhi of bodhicitta. Furthermore, the signs of illness and the extraction of illness should be learned from the oral instructions. This concludes "The Examination of Illness through the Abiding of Wind," composed by the master Ajoki.
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.