Vikriti — Current Imbalance and the Goal of Treatment
Vikriti (current state of imbalance) is the deviation from one's Prakriti baseline that indicates disease — and the goal of all Ayurvedic treatment is to restore the person's natural constitutional balance.
Vikriti (from 'vi' = away from + 'krti' = creation — 'away from original creation') is the person's current dosha imbalance — the state that deviates from their Prakriti baseline. Understanding the relationship between Prakriti and Vikriti is the clinical art of Ayurveda: a Vata-Pitta person with current Kapha excess (unusual for their type) needs different treatment than a Kapha-predominant person with the same Kapha excess. The former indicates a significant lifestyle disruption; the latter may be quite normal. Diagnosis (Rogi Pariksha — patient examination) in Ayurveda involves assessing eight specific diagnostic points (Ashta Sthana Pariksha): pulse (Nadi), urine (Mutra), feces (Mala), tongue (Jihva), sound (Shabda), touch (Sparsha), appearance (Drik), and body structure (Akriti) — all to determine the gap between Prakriti and Vikriti and design a corrective strategy.
The physician must assess both the Prakriti and the Vikriti of the patient.
The concept of personalized medicine in contemporary biomedical research — treating patients based on individual genetic, biomarker, and phenotypic profiles rather than population averages — directly parallels the Ayurvedic Prakriti-Vikriti model of diagnosis and treatment.
Ashtanga Hridayam