three therapies of south india 49
Theory and Treatment of Psychopathology
According to ayurveda and certain schools of philosophy in India, the person
is made up of a physical, a subtle and a causal body. A person possesses bud-
dhi (intelligence, intellect), manas (similar to mind), indriyas (sense organs),
ahamkāra (a sense of self or individuality) and other attributes that constitute
what might be considered one’s “mental” make-up, although as will be seen
later, the person is constituted by a continuum of states that range from the
tangible to the intangible in which the mind is less tangible than buddhi but
more tangible than the body. Mental illness can develop from vitiation of any
or all of the three dosas or excess in the mental humors rajas and tamas due
to excessive desire (for example, lust or covetousness) and repulsion (avoiding
objects that cause pain).^9
Rather than off er my own overview of elements of ayurvedic treatment of
psychopathology, I will present descriptions of this specialty by three well-
known Kerala ayurvedic psychiatric specialists, along with my observations
of their practices. As mentioned earlier, Kerala is reputed for its ayurvedic
psychiatric practices and features specialists who treat people with mental
problems, while in most regions of India psychiatric therapy in ayurveda is
usually handled by general practitioners. Ayurveda colleges do not off er spe-
cialized degrees in the treatment of psychopathology. A person who wishes
to specialize in the ayurvedic treatment of mental disorders must obtain a
general medical degree in ayurveda and then apprentice with a specialist such
as Dr. Sundaran.
Dr. K. Sundaran is an ayurvedic physician and college lecturer who is well
known and widely respected in the ayurvedic community in Kerala. When I
fi rst met him in 1994, he was a physician at the Government Ayurveda Mental
Hospital (GAMH) in Kottakkal, a small city in northern Kerala that is the
home of several ayurvedic institutions and research centers. Dr. Sundaran
completed his basic ayurvedic training at Ayurveda College in Trivandrum
in southern Kerala and then earned a graduate degree at Gujarat Ayurveda
University in north India. Dr. Sundaran worked at the GAMH in Kottakkal
from 1986 until 1994 when he went on deputation from his duties to teach
in the Trivandrum Ayurveda College as Senior Lecturer in the Department
of Basic Principles. While teaching in Trivandrum, Dr. Sundaran also saw
patients, and his reputation as a healer drew clients from a great distance.
Some patients took a nine-hour train journey from northern Kerala to consult
with him, and some came from other states. When I last saw him in 2005, he
had returned to the GAMH in Kottakkal and was also supervising student
training for matriculates at the Kottakkal Ayurveda College.