Author: Dr. Vinod Kumar MV, Professor, Department of Basic Principles, VPSV Ayurveda College, Kottakkal

1. Concept of Mind in Ayurveda
Prof. Vinodkumar M V
Professor, Dept. of Samhita, Sanskrit & Sidhanta
VPAV Ayurveda College Kottakkal, Kerala
ayurvin@gmail.com

2. Ayurvedic Psychology
 Starts with precise and simple description regarding mind
 Not to simplify the complexities of mental phenomena
 But to make a simple entry to the complexities
 Mind is considered as one of primary components of material world

3. Mind Is Existing
 That exists, which has Quality, Activity or Both
 Mind has its own Qualities
 Mind has its own Activities
 So, Mind is Existing

4. Does Mind Really Exist?
β is a factor, call it MIND, which when
connects sense organ to the soul, the
stimulus gets received properly.
So, MIND exists
Object
Sense
organ
β Soul
know
ledge
Object
Sense
organ
Soul know
ledge

5. Terminology
 Psychology = study of ‘psyche’
 Psyche = totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
 Psyche = mind = consciousness
 Ayurveda slightly differs

6. In Ayurveda
 Consciousness comprises of two distinct functional
domains –
 The Mind (Manas) and
 The Soul (Aatma)

7. Comparison - 1
Psyche
Mind Soul
Consciousness
Mechanism of
being conscious

8. Comparison - 2
Psyche
Thoughts
Affects
Volition
Mind Soul
Customer of
impressions,
affects and
thoughts
Custodian of
impressions,
affects and
volition

9.  Thoughts – Activity of mind; soul itself does not have any
activity
 Affects – Identified and expressed by mind; receptors are
there with mind; Soul is the reservoir of affects
 Volition – the effort always starts from Soul

10. Living Organisms
Receives Stimuli & Responds to Stimuli
Stimulus Response

11. Rule of Selectivity
 All stimuli are not received
 All received stimuli are not responded to
 Sometimes responses are delayed, modified or reversed
 There is an agent for this selectivity

12. Mind – Instrument of the Soul

13. Mind – The Instrument
 Instrument for receiving stimuli from sense organs
 Instrument for feeling the affects from external
world
 Instrument for analyzing, processing and settling
the stimuli received from outside
 Instrument for delimiting itself

14. Mind – the instrument for
receiving stimuli

15. Mind – instrument to
feel the affects

16. INSTRUMENT FOR PERFORMING
higher functions

17. Higher functions
 Thoughts (Cinta)
 Analysis (Vicaara)
 Deduction (Ooha)
 Concentration (Dhyaana)
 Imagination (Sankalpa)

18. Clarity is important
If sense organs directly access soul, there will be
superimposition of information

19. Mind is an adaptor
Soul
Sense
Organs
Mind

20. Mind is Single & Minute
 No superimposition means no simultaneous input of
stimuli
 There should be an adaptor, which permits single input
at a time
 Adaptor should be single but constantly moving
 Adaptor should be minute, which never comes in
contact with multiple sense organs
 So, MIND is single & minute

21. Cognitive Psychology in
Ayurveda

22. The Central Theme
 The central characteristic of being conscious is
KNOWLEDGE and its production (cognition).
 A living organism basically differs from a non-living by
means of acquiring mechanism for SENSING & RESPONDING
 Presence of a SYSTEM which receives, analyses and
responds to different stimuli makes living beings distinct
from non-living

23. The System
SOUL
Consciousness
MIND
The Internal
Instrument
Sense organs
The External
Instruments
PHYSICAL BODY
THE EXTERNAL WORLD
INPUT

24. The Process
SENSE FACULTY MIND INTELLECT
INTELLECTMOTOR FACULTY

25. Sensory
input
Analysis
Mind
Responses
Sense
organs
Organs
for
response

26. The Structural approach
Ego
(power of
possessive
ness)
Mind
(power of
analysis)
Intellect
(power of
descrimin
ation)
Who is
that?
It is x, not
y
He is
MY
friend
I feel
comfortable
with him, I
have to
greet him….

27. Tripartite Unit
 Intellect has the power of discrimination, which judges
the distinctiveness of different stimuli
 Ego has possessiveness which determines the role of ‘I’
(the self) in the whole process
 Mind has the power of analysis which finally evaluates the
merits and demerits of the stimulus based on the above
two phases

28. Roles defined
ARIA 28

29.  Soul – abode of consciousness – Final authority
of knowledge – The King
ARIA 29

30.  Mind – internal instrument to receive and
analyze stimuli – The Minister
ARIA 30

31.  Sense faculties – collecting stimuli from
external world – The informer
ARIA 31

32.  Physical body – the physical framework to
contain the above machinery – The Kingdom
ARIA 32

33. Fate of stimulus received
 Any stimuli if received creates an impression in
terms of two basic affects – pleasure or pain
 There can be a situation where the actual
character of the stimulus is obscure; it results in
confusion
 Pleasure turns into desire; pain to aversion and
confusion to inertia

34. Concept of Three
Attributes (Triguna)

35. The three affects
 Man is capable of having only three types of
emotions or affects.
 They are pleasure, pain and confusion.
 In other words they are happiness, arrogance and
depression.

36. In Sanskrit
 This when translated to Sanskrit are sukha or
preeti, duhkha, apreeti or dvesha and moha or
vishaada.
 the same object can produce these three affects
in one person at different times or in different
persons at the same time.

37. What is there in a flower?
 Thus a person may be confused of a flower, may
hate the flower or like it at various instances of
knowing a flower.
 Similarly when A likes the flower, B may hate it
and C may be confused as to what the flower is.

39. WHY?
 Proper knowledge of an object generates pleasure in
us.
 Paining by an object causes hatred or aversion about
it.
 Ignorance of an object causes depression and
confusion.

40. All in all
 Since all objects can generate pleasure, hatred and
confusion in us at various times or in various persons
simultaneously we may conclude that all objects
contain the stimulating factors for pleasure, pain
and confusion.

41. We too have
 Again, as our minds have the ability to react to
objects with pleasure, pain and confusion our
minds should have the receptors for these three
affects.

42. Receptor and the transmitter
 should be of the same nature so that the
transmitted signal can be received.
 It is true with the radio transmitters and
receivers.
 In the case of the receptors of sense
objects too the same criterion is valid.

43. Reciprocation of provocation
 If a person becomes arrogant in perceiving an object,
the object should contain an arrogating factor.
 Again, the person should also possess some arrogance
factor.
 By the rule of similars, arrogance factor of the object
could increase the arrogance factor of the perceiver and
generate arrogance in him.

44. Threshold of affect
 Affect has a threshold.
 Only if the threshold is overwhelmed, arrogance
manifests as effect.

45. Stimulus & Effect
 A stimulus, by continuous low stimulation or a
strong short stimulation, exerts irritation on the
subject.
 As the irritation increases and passes the
threshold level, excitation results.

46. Recap
 We are capable of only three major affects.
 The perceptible universe (objects) is capable of
stimulating us only in three ways.
 The receptor of affect and the transmitter of
the affect should have the same principle in
them. Only then reception and excitation or
provocation could happen.

47. Naming the factors
 Let us name these three factors as factor alfa, beta
and gamma.
 These terms do not convey any sense.
 It is the Indian style of terminology to use metaphors
for unknown factors.
 That we have done in the case of the humors and
existents

48. Rename in Indian style
 Here in the case of mind too we do the same.
 We identify the three unknown factors as satva, rajas
and tamas.
 Now we have terms which convey some meaning and
we could at least guess their nature.

49. SATVA
 Satva means that which is sat or existent.
 It is true or satya and is pure.
 It is clear and self explanatory.

50. RAJAS = Coloring
 The color masks the original texture and substance of the underlying fact to
some extend.
 Hence causes an error of perception like the view
through a tinted glass.
 Actions prompted by wrong perception are mostly
bound to be wrong.
 Rajas prompts us to act. But this is mostly
arrogant action.

51. Jaundiced views

52. Identity Crisis - Moha
 In other words, the question is “Is it me or not me?”
 It is the case of the missing pass word. It is the problem of
an identity crisis.
 In this confusion we are unable to act. We become inert.
 We are in a way unconscious about the object. It causes
uncertainty and depression in us.

53. SRT – Summarized
 Satva – pleasure, right knowledge
 Rajas – aversion, aggressiveness, activity
 Tamas – confusion, inactivity, inhibition
Basic Triad of any psychological/physiological
discourse of any living organism

54. The three domains together
Cognitivedomain
Input of
stimulus,
analysis
judgment
Affectivedomain
Pleasure
Pain
Confusion
Conativedomain
Desire
Aversion
Inhibition

55. Behavior
 Behavior is the aggregate expression of chain of
responses
 In that way, behavior carry complex patterns of SRT
disposition of mind
 Permanent or nearly permanent behavioral patterns
design the personality traits
 So, personality traits are designed by varying SRT
combinations

56. Soul – Mind Problem in Behavior
 Soul represents the genetically modulated
common minimum instinctual behaviors
exhibited by all living organisms inherited from
previous generations

57. So, as per Indian philosophies Soul is said to
be transmigrated from previous births

58. Instinctual behaviors
 Either voluntary or involuntary
 Basic emotions (pleasure, pain, desire, aversion etc.),
 Instinctual efforts (volition)
 Consciousness
 Preservation and recollection of ideas
 Ego and
 Psycho-somatic coordination

59.  Soul bears the impressions of all the behaviors in
human beings (genetic coding)
ARIA 59

60.  Mind makes them expressed at suitable situations
ARIA 60

61. With three basic colors (SRT)
Mind makes complex picturesARIA 61

62. Simply
Soul is the inherited part of consciousness and mind is its
personalized extension
ARIA 62
SOUL

63. So,
 Mind brigs out the individual variability of life
experience and behaviors
 Mind is responsible for the complexities of human
behavior

64. Personality traits
 Pure – SRT
 Violent – SRT
 Dull - SRT

65. SRT in Physiology
 Absorption and assimilation are the responses to pleasure
 Excretion and withdrawal are the responses to pain
 Inactivity and inhibition are the responses to confusion

66. SRT in Physiology
Satva –
real knowledge of
the situation
Rajas –
Initiation of activity
Tamas – Inhibition
of activity

67. In Ayurveda
Psychology is an extended expression of physiology
BODY-MIND MUTUALITY

68. Justification
Mind is not a bio-physical entity, but biological
characteristics readily influence mental functions (and
vice-versa)

69. Container – Content Relationship
Container Content
But, they can share temperature

70. Mind interprets Universe

71. To understand the nature of the
universe
• We should examine our mind
• Whatever is in our mind will be prompted by
our ego
• Whatever is in the ego is prompted by the
primary undifferentiated knowledge
• Whatever is in it is from the primordial Nature.
• So to know the Nature, explore our own mind.

72. Ethical Psychology
 Ayurveda argues that mental health is a social product
 Because, any behavior needs ethical validation
 Behavior and emotions are said to be healthy only when
they adheres with social ethics
 Disagreement with Sigmund Freud

73. Happiness
(Sukha)
Reality
Ethics
(Dharma)
Ayurveda vis-à-vis Psychoanalysis

74. Conclusion
 Ayurveda provides a simple and precise entry to complexities of mind.
 Ayurveda considers mind not as a bio-physical entity but, readily influenced by bio-
physical phenomena.
 Different aspects of modern psychology like cognitive psychology, behavioral
psychology, psycho analytic principles, structuralism etc. can be illustrated in the
concept of mind explained in Ayurveda; but they are only rough approximations.
 Ayurveda tries to explain psychology integrated with other principles like body, soul
and sense faculties.
 Ayurveda gives importance to ethical and social validation of mental health and
health as a whole.
 In Ayurveda, psychology is a way of interpreting nature of universe.

75. Thank you