Nadi vigyan (pulse reading)

*NADI VIGYAN (the science of pulse reading)

Nadi Vigyan is the ancient
science of medical diagnosis by an analysis of the pulse.

You place the first three fingers (leaving out little finger) in such a way that the index finger is closest to the base of the thumb. Pulse beats will be felt on the fingertips of these three fingers. The nadi vaidya checks the strength (and weakness) of the beats from the manner in which blood is coursing through  on each of these fingers. It is a profound study and it is exceedingly difficult to master.

The very elementary principle of ayurveda is that VAT (the AIR element) is diagnosed from the index finger, PITTA (the HEAT element) is diagnosed from middle finger and SHLESHMA (loosely speaking you can call this cough element) from the ring finger. This is of course a very elementary explanation.

Dr. Brahaspati Dev Triguna of Delhi had taken this science of nadi-diagnosis to an exceptionally high level, difficult for a vaidya in the modern times to ever reach.

Dr.Triguna was by far the best nadi vaidya in the world. He seemed to possess a divine gift (SIDDHI) for pulse reading. He was a devout worshipper of God Shiva and there was a shiva temple adjascent to the hall where he saw his patients. On occasions when I reached his clinic much before the opening time I had found him seated in the shivalaya, deep in meditation.

Here is a link to more about Dr. triguna on his visit to USA :

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-03/news/vw-9301_1_pulse