Improper Use Of Sense Organs: A Neglected Cause For Diseases

By Vd.A.Rangaprasad Bhat
One of the big reasons for Tridosha Imbalance, leading to disease is improper use of sense organs. In other words, lack of proper association of sense organs with their objects. This is explained as – Asatmya Indriya Artha Sannikarsha. 

Asatmya Indriya Artha Samyoga

AsatmendriyArtha Sanniyoga and their 3 varieties _ hIna,mithyA,ati yoga:-
तेषां कोपे तु कारणम् ||३४||
अर्थैरसात्म्यैः संयोगः कालः कर्म च दुष्कृतम्| हीनातिमिथ्यायोगेन भिद्यते तत्पुनस्त्रिधा||३५||
Ashtanga Hrudaya Sutrasthana 12th Chapter अ. हृ. सू. १२ / ३५

The reason for Doshas to get aggravated is the AsAtmyata – imbalance, occurring due to improper bondage of sense organs with Artha (objects concerned to those indriyas) in par with
kala (seasonal variations) and
Karma (activities – related to this birth or previous birth).

This indriyartha samyoga again is clinically divided into –

1. indriyArtha hina yoga – Less contact of sense organ with its object
2. indriyArtha atiyoga  – Excessive contact of sense organ with its object  and
3. indriyArtha mithyAyoga – Incorrect contact of sense organ with its object

The word artha indicates the object of sense organs.
Shabda (sound) is the artha of ears /auditory system – Shrothrendriya
Sparsha (tactile sensation) is the Artha of skin sense organ – Sparshanendriya
Rupa (visual field) is the Artha of eyes – Chakshurendriya
Rasa (taste perception / gustation) is the Artha of tongue – Rasanendriya
Gandha – smell / olfaction is the Artha of nose – Ghranendriya

Examples for easy understanding of Hina-Mithya-Ati Yoga of the sensory organs with their objects:

Hina Yoga

Hina Yoga of chakShurindriya (Insufficient contact of eyes) with the object:
The insufficient contact of the eyes over an object, fails to observe the detailed nature of the object and hence fails to send the classified information in intact manner.

The eyes send broken inputs of the events which got to be noticed by it.
Let us consider an accident scene, where in a bike speeding at 8o kmph over a busy road , hits an electric post and gets injured. His eyes were not concentrating on the roads. He wrongly assumed that there is no posts, because his eyes did not make sufficient contact with the object – the electric post. This led to the injury.

Here, there was insufficient contact between the eyes and the object. Or, there was Heenayoga of Chakshu Indriya and Roopa (Artha of Chakshu Indriya).

b) To quote another example for hina yoga of eye, a person running in a hurry to attend an interview, slips over the wet floor and falls down. Because of the anxiety of the upcoming interview, he did not have proper look at the floor while walking.

Ati Yoga

Atiyoga of ChakShurindriya (Excessive contact of eyes with the object):
Binge watching of television for hours together.
Staring at smartphone all the time.
Both leads to strain on mind and eyes, leading to irritability, lack of concentration, headache, insomnia, triggering of migraine, sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety, short tempered mentality, lack of social connect, phobia, social disorder, personality disorder etc.

The Hetu of atiyoga of akshi and shravana indriya, thus involves the following pathological components – samprapti ghatakas, clinically in this case of example –
Dosha: vata(vyAna) and pitta(Alochaka),
DUshya: rakta, mamsa, majja, dhamani,
Srotus: rasavaha, raktavaha, mamsavaha, majjavaha.
Srotodushti: vimArgagamana
Agni: vishama
Ama: dhatvagnijanya
sanchArasthAna: mastishka, akshi, hrdaya
AdhisthAna: shiras, hrdaya
VyaktasthAna: Akshi, hrdaya, mastishka.

Mitya Yoga

MityAyoga of ChakShurindriya (incorrect contact of eyes with the object):
Standing and searching for a minute object like sewing needle fallen over the floor of mosaic flooring strains eyes. Reading book under dim light
Reading books in in sleeping posture
Staring at very bright screen of smartphones and televisions
Eating wrong food combinations

The incorrect and inappropriate contact do not provide the information to the mind in actual form, but with distorted form. Thereby the resulting cognitive knowledge about the object gets registered in a confusing pattern. Likewise listening to an high pitched sound, smelling an obnoxious odor, bungee jumping, tasting a sweet dish, soon after tasting a bitter tasting food – are illustrative of incorrect contact for the Shravan, nAsA, tvak and rasana indriyas respectively.

Like wise, the hina, mithyA, ati yoga of the indriya with their artha can be understood for other sensory organs too.
By Vd.A.Rangaprasad Bhat
“Padmanilayam”, (Ayurveda & Non Conventional Marma Chikitsa Clinic) 49/46,
Kanagaraya Malaiyappan St,
Raja Annamalaipuram,
Mandavelipakkam, Chennai- 600028.
Email: drrangaprasadbhat@gmail.com