Trivarga Manipulation in the treatment of mental disorders and Role of Sattvavajaya

Article by Dr Raghuram Y.S. MD (Ay) & Dr Manasa S, B.A.M.S

Purushartha Chatushtaya

Purushartha Chatushtayas are the four pursuits or goals of human life. Every living person should have a vision of achieving these four goals in life. This is the intention for which we are created. This is also the intention for which we should be living our life.

The purushartha chatushtayas are –

–        Dharma – righteousness or living a life in a righteous way
–        Artha – means wealth or anything / any objects or earnings we earn in life, obtaining or earning wealth in a righteous way in righteous paths
–        Kama – means desire or lust, good and meaningful desires which can be wished for in righteous ways
–        Moksha – means salvation, getting freed from the vicious cycle of life and death

Trivargas

Among these, the first three i.e. dharma, Artha and kama are considered as trivarga. When the three vargas are followed and practiced ethically and religiously in the pathway of righteousness – regularly, throughout his or her life, one is said to attain moksha.

How can one attain the purushartha chatushtayas?

As already discussed, the trivargas are the pathways of attaining moksha. With this, the person would have worked towards attaining purushartha chatushtayas.

To attain these four goals of life, one needs to be very principled in life. He or she should not only understand the philosophy of these goals but also inculcate them into their life and also practice them regularly. For this, one needs to make a conscious decision and choose the pathway. This is not easy but dhairya – courage and sankalpa – determination will help a person to travel in this pathway. Leading a righteous way of life, every moment – is the foundation for attaining these goals or pursuits.

Role of sane mind in achieving the chatushtayas

In order to achieve these goals of life, the mind should be in a state of balance. One should practice to control the mind using many measures and methods. Scattered, disturbed or confused mind is like an uncontrolled horse or an intoxicated bull.

The mind is the key component in achieving any kind of knowledge or wisdom or for input of information of any kind into the software of our system. It forms a link and bridge between the indriyarthas – sense objects and indriyas – sense organs on one side and buddhi – intellect, consciousness and atma – soul on the other side.

The sense organs receive / perceive sense objects by making contact with them. If the mind is not connected to the sense organs at that point of time, the person will not perceive anything in spite of his or her sense organ being connected to the related sense object. But when the mind is connected with the sense organs, the objects and the knowledge of the same perceived by the sense organs will be transferred by the mind to the intellect for further scrutiny. In a state of sanity, the combination of mind and intellect will decide what is good and what is bad to the self (atman – soul) based on the previous experiences. The good experiences will be saved in the subconscious layers in the form of memories – smriti, which will surface as and when needed.

When the mind is disturbed, deviated or diseased, this entire equation of perception of knowledge and experiences will be heavily disrupted. In fact, the person will make bad choices, untoward perceptions and will have and save unwholesome and harmful experiences. He will not be able to differentiate between good and bad and will commit prajnaparadha. He will save only bad experiences which are harmful in his subconscious layers and the person will only remember bad choices, bad experiences and bad memories when needed. These will not only self-destroy the person but will also destroy the other people in the circle and relationships with them.

Prajnaparadha is caused due to dhi, Dhriti and smriti bhramsha i.e. deviation and perversions of intellect, courage and memories. All these are caused due to incompatible conjunction between sense organs and sense objects or due to the presence of a disturbed or diseased mind in the equation or pathway of perceiving information, knowledge or experiences.

On the contrary, when the mind is sane, stable and in a state of balance, the raja and tama qualities too will be in a state of balance and sattva guna will dominate the mind. In this condition, the person will not commit any mistakes and sins since he will be in a state of serene calmness and consciousness.

This will be possible when the person will practice the trivargas in a righteous way and make a habit of the same.

Practice of Trivarga: good remedy for diseased and disturbed mind

As discussed already, the four goals of life are very important for the evolution of an individual and his or her personality in a good way. Among these, moksha or salvation is dependent on the quality and quantity of dharma, Artha and kama i.e. the trivargas that one would practice constantly, without any diversions or perversions, for lifelong. Though this is difficult, it can be achieved through determination, courage, perseverance and conscious decision to travel in that path.

So,Dharma, Artha and Kama when done in a righteous way would pave the pathway for obtaining moksha. This can be done if the sattva guna of the mind is high and raja and tama quality are balanced. Else the person is not committed to dharma or righteous choices of Artha and kama.

When the mind is diseased or disturbed, it is important to bring the gunas of mind to a state of balance, to consciously avoid asatmya indriyartha samyoga and prajnaparadha and revert the deviations of dhi, dhrti and smriti. When this is achieved, the person will be ready to undertake dharma, Artha and kama into his life. When he does that, the trivargas further nurture the mind and train the mind to be sane, balanced, undisturbed, un-perturbed, un-deviated and healthy throughout the life. This happens because a person in the pathway of trivarga will never commit any sin or mistake. So, the trigunas will always be in a state of balance. Hence, the person will not commit prajnaparadha and the dhi, dhrti and smriti will always be in a state of balance and cannot be disturbed or deviated easily.

With this, we can understand that a sane mind is responsible for adopting the trivarga in one’s life. And, the trivarga helps in keeping the mind healthy and hence is an important intervention in the treatment of disturbed mind and to prevent mental disorders in the long run.

Sattvavajaya, as the foundation for sane mind which is needed for practicing trivarga

Adopting and following the pathway of Trivarga comes with a conscious decision but initially one would need the help of an Ayurveda counselor or physician to help him or her out in framing the blueprint for the same. The mind needs to be conquered first and taken into control through the implementation of sattvavajaya and the branches of therapy comprised in it i.e. regular practice of one or more of the jnana, vijnana, dhairya, smriti and samadhi.

Once the mind comes into control through these measures, the trivarga can be consciously adopted and practiced. When the person is in the pathway of ethical and righteous dharma, Artha and kama, he will further not succumb to the temptations of prajnaparadha and asatmya indriyartha samyoga. This will keep the trigunas of mind in a state of balance and also the dhi, Dhriti and smriti components.

So, Sattvavajaya is the foundation step towards procuring a sane mind to practice Trivarga. For this to happen one should put his or her best efforts to control their mind by adopting measures and practices to bring back the rajas and tamas qualities which are imbalanced to a state of balance. This would not only help in restoring the mental health but would also prepare one to earn dharma, artha and kama in a righteous way. One should put hard efforts to pursue and perceive wholesome objects and abstain from the unwholesome ones. Both happiness and unhappiness are dependent on dharma, artha and kama and depend on whether they are earned in a right or wrong way. Hence one should learn ways to deal with them in a proper way. One should act wisely after having thoroughly learnt about the soul (self, self-worth), dwelling place, time factor, strength, limitations and capacity of self.

Trivarga for mental health, What Master Charaka Says?

(Ref – Charaka Sutra Sthana, Chapter 11, Verses 46-47)

तत्र बुद्धिमता मानसव्याधिपरीतेनापि सता बुद्ध्या हिताहितमवेक्ष्यावेक्ष्य धर्मार्थकामानामहितानामनुपसेवने हितानांचोपसेवने प्रयतितव्यं, न ह्यन्तरेण लोके त्रयमेतन्मानसं किञ्चिन्निष्पद्यते सुखं वा दुःखं वा; तस्मादेतच्चानुष्ठेयं-तद्विद्यानां चोपसेवने प्रयतितव्यम्, आत्मदेशकुलकालबलशक्तिज्ञाने यथावच्चेति||४६||
Master Charaka says that a wise person should carefully look into and consider the hita – beneficial and ahita – non-beneficial or harmful things in relation to his or her health after having carefully scrutinized them, in spite of them suffering from a mental / psychological disease. One should detach from the harmful or unwholesome objects or regimens and at the same time conduct all the beneficial actions in relation to Dharma, Artha and Kama. Happiness or sorrow cannot occur without these three entities in this world. Therefore, it is important to get indulged in doing beneficial actions and discard or keep away from those which are harmful. Apart from this, one should serve the intellectual persons and also try to acquire knowledge about atma (self), desha – place, kala – timem factor, bala – strength and shakti – capacity, strength or potential.

भवति चात्र- मानसं प्रति भैषज्यं त्रिवर्गस्यान्ववेक्षणम्| तद्विद्यसेवा विज्ञानमात्मादीनां च सर्वशः||४७||
Master Charaka further says – ‘The treatment of mental / psychological diseases can be done by following the conducts mentioned in and related to following the trivarga i.e. dharma, Artha and kama, being in the company of and serving wise men and experts who have knowledge of psychological disorders and to follow their instructions, having vijnana i.e. wisdom and by obtaining the knowledge of atma / self (spiritual knowledge) etc.

Thus, following trivarga in a proper and righteous way, by one’s choice and decision is one of the main therapies for comprehensive cure of psychological disorders.