Vyasana: On Addiction and the Failure of the Intellect 

James Christian
Dr. Kelsey Page
Clinical Ayurvedic Medicine
June 29, 2026

This brief survey of literature attempts to define addiction from a modern western and classical ayurvedic point of view. I will further explore the basis of ayurvedic treatment relative to the stages of samprapti.      

Websters dictionary defines addiction as “a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms upon withdrawal or abstinence” (“Addiction”). This habit could be formed around anything, a substance or behavior, as long as it causes physical, psychological, or social harm on the doer of the habit. In addition to this, there is a withdrawal element that has clear and distinct symptoms like anxiety, nausea, restlessness etc. If this sounds like you, you’re in a state of “being addicted”. So here, addiction is shaded as more of a compulsive need. 

But nobody goes to the dictionary to self-diagnose anything anymore. Maybe a more robust definition can be found somewhere in the medical profession. The Mayo clinic generally defines it as: “an inability to stop using a substance (from tobacco to illegal drugs) or engaging in a behavior (from shopping to sex) despite negative consequences” (“Addiction”). Here, the term is less specific than Webster’s, there is no mention of withdrawals and is more of an inability to stop.  

Searching the popular medical archives a little deeper you’ll find another component to addiction–the addictive personality. Ok, this is getting a little juicier. Turns out some people are more prone to addiction than others because of their personality. Irresponsible, lying thrill-seekers with ADHD and a propensity for instant gratification seem to be at the highest risk. No hobbits allowed! This is strictly Rock-n-Roll behavior. It causes harm and is self-destructive (glad I don’t have it). And that seems to be the common thread or sutra as some would say: It has to cause harm, first and foremost, in order for it to be addiction. So, if you’re not hurting yourself or others then you’re not addicted to anything?  There’s got to be more to it than that.  

What do clinical psychologists and psychotherapists go by? The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition aka The DSM-5. That’s right, the postmodern bible of human behavior. But digging through a Jacob’s ladder of syndromes and pathologies you won’t find it. That’s right…the western mind mechanics have completely abandoned the word addiction and gone with…well, I’m not really sure. I think it’s just a form that you write your name on and turn in like homework. The DSM-5 does not use the clinical term ‘addiction’ on its own. Instead, it defines addiction under the umbrella of Substance Use Disorder (SUD), classifying it as a single, progressive continuum (mild, moderate, or severe) based on 11 specific diagnostic criteria.  

So at the very least addiction is habitually compelled negative behavior. But if you actually have to treat a patient you might skip the definition and go right to filling out an SUD form and create a more functional definition that clearly defines the harm done to the individual and society.  

What does classical ayurveda have to say? Well…nothing, there is no direct description of addiction or drug dependency in Ayurveda. There is no description or definition for addiction in the classical world…it’s more of a modern concept. There are some Sanskrit words that are related to addiction. Mada (excitement), Madatyaya (alcoholism), Panatyaya (acute alcoholism), Okasatyma (habituation developed by practice) and Vyasana (addiction). These words are certainly related, but Vyasana is particularly interesting. 

“Sattvavana, or the individual with sattva predominance, has high tolerance toward physical and mental ailments…The sattva dominance is devoid of sorrow (vyasana/dukkha), happiness (abhyudaya/sukha), malaise (glani), and exhilaration (harsha). Hence they are considered supreme for the promotion of health” (Bhojani). 

Here, in a chapter regarding sattva, the word vyasana is used as sorrow. Alcoholic intoxication erases sattvic qualities while vitiating rajas and tamas in individuals that are not sattvic. In this state a person becomes addicted to liquor because of their decreased decision-making ability. There is a breakdown of intelligence during intoxication, before and after drinking alcohol for individuals that are not sattvic.  This is an interesting distinction. The amount of alcohol consumed needs to be balanced with an individual’s level of sattva. A very sattvic person can crush large amounts of alcohol with little or no effect as compared to the ragas or tamasic individual. Drinking leads to sorrow (addiction) in the unenlightened. It is converted into light and joy in the sattvic. The individuals with sattvika predominance can regularly consume madya also in more amount as compared to rajasika and tamasika individuals.

In the 24^th chapter of Charak Samhita is madatyaya chikitsa: the management of intoxication and the different levels of intoxication (Singh).  Also described are methods of manufacture and methods of proper consumption according to constitution. It also describes the advantages and disadvantages of consuming alcohol.  This chapter is also conveniently placed after the chapter on poison and treating poisoning. The reason being that maha is being addressed, which is a state of perplexity and delusion to the point of unconsciousness. Maha is the conscious state of poisoning and drunkenness. In this chapter, alcohol is examined as a special sort of food with different short term, immediate, and long-term effects.   There is a proper and improper way of consuming and preparing alcoholic beverages according to constitution and level of sattva.  

This chapter on the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol in the Charak Samhita is fairly in depth and addresses a range of topics:  

1. The powers of sura, the liquor for the Gods. 

2. The standard methods of drinking liquor. 

3. The ingredients for liquor and the dietary components with which liquor is to be taken. 

4. Wholesomeness of different varieties of alcohol for different types of the person 

5. The method of appropriate use of the liquor 

6. The process by which intoxication is caused 

7. The properties of liquor which is endowed with great attributes 

8. Signs and symptoms of intoxication 

9. Different stages of intoxication 

10. Adverse effects of liquor 

11. Good effects of alcohol 

12. Use of alcohol keeping in mind the three varieties of eight factors 

13. Signs and symptoms manifested in persons having three types of psyches 

14. Characteristics of good companions while drinking 

15. Characteristics of the persons who get drunk gradually and rapidly 

16. Etiology, symptomatology of madatyaya 

17. The type of liquor and the manner in which the liquor cures the intoxication 

18. Line of treatments for drunkenness and intoxication at various levels.  

(Unnikrishnan, 207-211) 

But there really isn’t a concept of addiction being talked about here. The main effect of long-term drinking is increased rajas, tamas, and low ojas due to the digestion of alcohol. The real long term mental affect seems to be a breakdown of intelligence from the conscious awareness down to the cellular level. Perverted cravings lead to the overconsumption of the qualities found in alcohol which leads to increased quantity of consumption. Reading between the lines in this chapter we see the prasara stage of disease progression. Addiction isn’t the result of a personality disorder. Personality disorder (increased rajas and tamas/low ojas) has to do with perverted or distorted cravings that are the result of accumulating dosa.  

Within the subject of madatyaya (disorders caused by alcohol) other classic texts list many causative factors related to drinking patterns, one of which is daily drinking. This isn’t necessarily addressing addiction but rather diseases caused by habitual drinking. Excessive consumption (nitya madypana), another drinking pattern mentioned by most ayurvedic authors, is the leading cause of madatyaya because it leads to intoxication immediately and dependency later (Unnikrishnan, 233-239). Some other interesting drinking patterns mentioned are drinking alone, drinking on an empty stomach, drinking while having indigestion, and sudden cessation (sahasa vicheda) where a person drinks for many years and suddenly stops, resulting in withdrawal symptoms (Unnikrishnan, 233-239). Other factors leading to madatyaya are the nature of the alcohol consumed. When people do not consume alcohol properly (which is based on prakriti), the excessive qualities of that alcohol will cause doshic disruptions. Consuming alcohol that is penetrating and hot will vitiate pitta dosa. Sweet liquors or alcohol sweetened post fermentation can vitiate kapha dosa in excess. Alcohol that is high in potency (proof) is incredibly drying and can vitiate vata dosa if used in excess. People with vata/pitta constitutions are more prone to madatyaya. These people being lighter in nature can be affected more easily with a little amount.  

Mental state and mood are also a causative factor of madatyaya. People with less control over their feelings are more prone to complications surrounding alcohol.  Fear, grief, and anger are feelings that can lead to self-medication or a desire to escape these feelings. Of course, a person’s diet plays a role in madatyaya. Foods that increase vata dosa or eating too little can lead to a vata madatyaya. As well as the habit of eating foods with only one taste. Excessive consumption of pungent or penetrating foods can lead to pitta madatyaya. Excessive sugars, carbohydrates and food that are hard to digest; also, foods that are oily, and overly unctuous can lead to kapha madatyaya.   

Some other factors that lead to madatyaya  

1. Pipasitha (excessive thirst V+) 

2. Bubhukshita (excessively Hungry VP+) 

3. Mandagni (Reduced digestion V+ ) 

4. Vaya (Age, stage of life) 

5. Stri Karshita (exhausted due to sex V+) 

6. Adwa Karshita (Exhausted due to excessive walking V+) 

7. Bhara Karshita (exhausted due to carrying heavy weight V+) 

8. Vyayama Karshita (exhausted due to over exercising V+) 

9. Ushnabhitapta (Heat exhaustion P+) 

10. Atapa Priya (sun exposure P+) 

11. Avyayami (lack of exercise K+) 

12. Divaswapni (day sleeping K+) 

13. Shayya Asana Sukhi (being lazy with lots of comfortable sleeping and sitting K+)  

14. Abala (Physically weak/low ojas)  

(Wanjarkhedkar, 24) 

Increased consumption of alcohol leads to an increased risk of madatyaya. Understanding the causative factors of madatyaya can help with the treatment of these disorders. The classical authors understood this well and we are still learning from them to this day. But this does not really address addiction in general. What is at the core of habitual drinking and habitual behavior?  

“We postpone meditation and enlightenment but we never postpone our addictions. The moment there is a desire to smoke people smoke. They never delay” (Lad, Fundamental Principles, 223). 

This, from Dr. Lad, begins a section on tejas and karma where addiction is used as an example for unconscious living. It is tejas or consciousness that burns through prarabdha karma. This awareness will erase the memory of disease in your cells.  Addiction is a breakdown of intelligence or consciousness. Conscious living and conscious dying is a blissful experience because our consciousness is burning up past life karma.  Living in an unconscious addicted state is an illusion and a breakdown in consciousness and the build up of prarabdha karma.  

So how does this work? If addiction causes disease, where in the disease process does it occur? If cellular agni is functional there will still be some intelligent cravings (Lad, Clinical Assessment, 239). The body, when it is healthy, craves things that are good for it. This is really the basis of allopathy, and our bodies do it naturally when we are happy and healthy. When a body is too hot it craves cool things. When a body is tired it will crave rest. When we are healthy, we crave the things that bring balance and harmony. It’s in the process of accumulation, aggravation and overflow where this breakdown of intelligence or “perverse cravings” (addiction) can be found.  

Disease is the result of a process in which there are different stages, but it all begins with a disturbance in the balance of the dosas. Vata, pitta, and kapha reside in their home sites and stay in their home sites when everything is in balance according to an individual’s constitution. Vata stays in the colon, pitta in the small intestine and kapha in the stomach and lungs. These are the sites from which the dosas spread and influence the tissues and channels.  Vata, pitta, and kapha go through normal cycles of change that can be described in three different stages: accumulation (sanchaya), provocation (prakopa), and pacification (prashamana). These are the cycles found in nature that can be seen in seasonal changes and different times of the day. If the dosas do not break out of their sites of influence, there will be no diseases. Disease is defined as an aggravated dosa that leaves its site and enters general circulation. It then enters a dhatu and disturbs the qualities, function, and structure of that tissue.  If the dosa can be held in the sanchaya stage, it will not spread. Each dosa should be managed without interfering with the other dosas. “The dosa should be managed in the sanchaya stage. They should be managed without interfering with each other in the prakopa stage. And when all three are increased the strongest one should be managed without aggravating the other two” (Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana 13:15 Qtd. in Lad, Vol 2, p24). What is being communicated is that one should never wait to treat a disease until it has manifested. Always manage the disorder in the first stage of accumulation because prevention is better than a cure.  

But things tend to get out of control or mismanaged because disease is disorder. Disease progression all starts with the mind; the propensity to not listen to the body’s intelligence. This is where the discussion of addiction should take place.  Prajnaparadha (intellectual blasphemy), according to ayurveda, is the main cause of disease. Prajnaparadha blocks the flow of awareness that tells us what we should or should not do. We do things all the time that we know are wrong, but we do them anyway and insult the natural intelligence of the body. This is the starting point of all disease, physical or mental. The flow of awareness is the is divine intelligence or tejas. This is what is being sinned against when the senses are misused. “misuse, under-use, and overuse of time, intellect and sense objects are the three fold cause of mental and physical disorders” (Charaka Sutrassthana ch. 1 v. 54 Qtd. In Lad, Vol 2, p25).     

In the sanchaya stage of disease progression the person is still quite healthy. When a dosa accumulates, the body’s natural intelligence creates an aversion to what is causing the accumulation and a craving for the opposite qualities. This is what happens when a child eats too much candy and gets sick. And this is why you hate the smell of tequila. This is the body’s natural intelligence protecting you from your own ignorance.   But the symptoms in this stage are mild and temporary and typically go overlooked. For instance, vata accumulation is experienced as abdominal distention or gas and mild constipation. For pitta there might be darker yellow urine or a yellowish discoloration of the eyes. For kapha it is feelings of lethargy, heaviness, and fullness of the stomach. It is easy to not hear the still-soft voice of your body’s intelligence in this phase.  The specific treatment to reverse this phase is really the application of common sense and simple home remedies and by just applying the simple principal of opposites (stuff that should be taught in grade school).  If the body’s intelligence is ignored, obscured or hampered, accumulating dosic influences will flow into the next phase.  

In the second phase, or prakopa, the dosa has risen to the limits of its container in the body and the person is more likely to know something is wrong in this phase. For instance, someone with a pitta prakriti may overindulge in pizza and beer on Friday night. Come Saturday morning that person may have a mild burning sensation around the umbilicus and have red eyes and darker more pungent smelling urine (sanchaya). This might be noticed by a sensitive pitta or it might not. The person might say pizza sauce always makes my stomach feel weird and I don’t really like beer. I’d rather drink something refreshing and clear. But then Saturday night shows up and Suzi Q. just broke up with her boyfriend and wants to go out and get hot wings and margaritas and suddenly the accumulation and aggravation symptoms are forgotten from Saturday morning. This further aggravated pitta dosa and is now at the limit of its container. The symptoms are worse but the dosa is still contained within its home site during the prakopa phase. Sunday morning comes, and sure things went well with Suzi but man a cool dip in a pool and an antacid sound amazing.  And that’s because this person still has “intelligent” cravings, at least while they are uncomfortable. The body knows what it needs and is communicating through the language of pain and discomfort, and as long as a person can hear and respond to this intelligence, they will avoid disease.    

But if the person ignores or suppresses the kind of subtle hints the body gives them then things move to the third phase, prasara, where the mind is no longer able to hear the body’s intelligence and communication breaks down. In this phase the dosa overflows the container of its home site and is pushed into the circulatory and lymphatic systems (rasa and rakta) (Halpern 172; Lad, Vol 2, 26-27). It is in this phase that purva rupa symptoms can be detected. These symptoms are mild and transient and can be overlooked by a busy distracted person. And it is in this phase that addiction or perverted cravings come into play.  A lot of yogic and ayurvedic things take place during this phase of disease progression because this is where free will and our ability to burn up past karma come into play big time. It is in this phase that karma and dharma come head-to-head and we wrestle with eternity. Initially, in the sanchaya and prakopa phases the body’s intelligence creates opposite cravings to restore balance between the dosas. But in the prasara phase the opposite takes place; perverted and unhealthy (doshically wrong) cravings are experienced. Because dosa is louder than the soul and the squeaky wheel gets the grease (or it gets replaced). This break down in intelligence goes down to the cellular level and affects the quantity and quality of tissue being produced (dhatu dushti, vruddhi, and kshaya). The intelligence being mentioned (the thing that breaks down and causes problems) is agni. That is what is breaking down—on all levels: physical, psycho-spiritual, and karmic.   

This is what Dr. Lad is hinting at when he says, “we postpone meditation and enlightenment but we never postpone our addictions”. Tejas is the hot burning light of pure eternal intelligence, and it is our true eternal nature. We damage this intelligence through prajnparadha and create a type of spiritual ama known as karma that hinders our digestion of spiritual, intellectual and physical things. This creates confusion and addiction because we no longer understand ourselves. 

We saw earlier from the Charaka Samhita some of the nidanas of madatyaya which are helpful in the treatment of alcohol induced diseases. But addiction is not specific enough to be an RMD. It is not a disease; it is part of the disease processes that take place during the prasara phase of samprapti where a person’s cravings are no longer in the service of that person, but now do the bidding of the dosas. Addiction is a breakdown in the natural intelligence of the body. This natural intelligence is also known as tejas which flows through the ida nadi.  

Tejas is the subtle energy of biological intelligence that transforms food, water, and air into consciousness. Tejas is the main energy that metabolizes everything we take in and experience. According to sankya philosophy, the elements have their own agni: Bhaumi tejas earth agni, apya agni is the agni if water, agni tejas is the agni of fire, vayu tejas is the agni of air, divya tejas is the agni of ether (Lad, Vol 1, p220). The human body (subtle and gross) is a reflection of the cosmos. This can be seen in the bhuta agni of the liver that transforms food into an intelligent biological entity. Tejas is the power of biological intelligence and prana is the flow of that intelligence.  Addiction is the confusion of this flow where the wrong elements in the wrong proportion are drawn to the person and metabolized in the wrong way. This is because of ignorance. In order to fix this confusion, prana and tejas need to be balanced. So the highest treatment for addiction is yoga and pranayama where the ida and pingla nadis are balanced. When a person is balanced, desire and cravings will be in harmony with prakriti and therefore balance the dosas and keep them in their proper seats.     

“Without meditation life is futile” (Lad, Vol 1, p223). Tejas is the burning hot flame of immaculate intelligence. This flame burns without any fuel or wick—it is the light of your true nature. When a person meditates this light burns up the blockages in subtle passageways that are the result of karma.  It then travels up the spine and opens the door to higher consciousness. When consciousness expands, we experience joy and bliss even in times of great hardship. Grief (vyasana) is metabolized into bliss and love which are truly contagious and habit forming.  Love transforms fear, grief and sadness into amusement, joy, and wisdom. Love knows all things and accepts all things because love is tejas and love is intelligence. True love is pure awareness and light. True love is not the opposite of addiction–it converts addiction back into awareness, intelligence, and wisdom. 

There is good news about addiction, because addiction is the opportunity to become enlightened. When we perform our sadhana and meditate in place of our addictive behavior and habitually postpone our bad habits, we expand our consciousness to the point that we do not take our suffering personally.  When an enlightened person suffers, their roga is humanity’s roga. We all feel the same feelings—rich or poor, smart or dumb, we will all suffer and die. But for those that can quiet the mind: out of suffering comes endless compassion and love. 

Works Cited 

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