Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 1.25
॥
Devanāgarī
कपालशोधने वापि रेचयेत्पवनं शनैः । चतुष्कं वातदोषं तु कृमिदोषं निहन्ति च
Transliteration (IAST)
kapālaśodhane vāpi recayetpavanaṃ śanaiḥ | catuṣkaṃ vātadoṣaṃ tu kṛmidoṣaṃ nihanti ca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कपाल-शोधने वा अपिkapāla-śodhane vā apiand also in the cleansing of the skull
रेचयेत् पवनं शनैःrecayet pavanaṃ śanaiḥshall he release the wind slowly
चतुष्कं वात-दोषं तुcatuṣkaṃ vāta-doṣaṃ tuthe fourfold disorder of wind
कृमि-दोषं निहन्ति चkṛmi-doṣaṃ nihanti caand the disorder from worms it destroys
Translation
"And in the cleansing of the skull too, he shall release the wind slowly; it destroys the fourfold disorder of wind and the disorder from worms".
Version
098c1fd003a0 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Kapala-shodhana, "cleansing of the skull," is named — a technique later books call kapalabhati: rapid exhalations that clear the nasal passages. The promises are again medical: disorders of vata, "wind," and krimi, "worms." A word must be said about the word dosha, because here it does not mean what it does in moral treatises. In ayurveda dosha is one of the three principles of the body — vata, pitta, kapha, "wind, bile, phlegm"; and disease is understood as their disorder or displacement.
This teaching is not theology and is tested on its own ground; there is nothing to dispute here from outside it. It is worth noting only that here too the book stays within the bodily and promises the bodily. As for krimi, "worms," in ayurveda this names both intestinal worms and small parasites in general; and the thought that they cause diseases is present in these treatises from antiquity. This observation, incidentally, is correct, and was stated many centuries before they were actually seen.
The Vaishnava side does not enter into these matters and sees no need to. It is worth adding only the general rule it holds: in matters of one's own craft, one must listen to the craftsman. One asks the physician about diseases, not a book on breath and not a book about God.