Through the lens of psychiatry: A case report, revisiting a character from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, an Indian scripture.

BACKGROUND: Ancient Indian scriptures often contain detailed depictions of human emotions and behaviour that resonate with modern psychiatric constructs. The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam narrates the story of Dhundhukārī, a character marked by persistent cruelty, deceitfulness, aggression, and self-destructive tendencies, culminating in a fatal outcome consistent with the poor prognosis of untreated Conduct Disorder or Antisocial Personality Disorder, though his eventual liberation complicates a purely western psychiatry prognostic reading. This paper revisits the character through a psychiatric lens and situates the analysis within indigenous Ayurvedic nosology. CASE PRESENTATION: A close reading of the "Redemption of a Brāhmaṇa (Ātmadeva)" narrative was undertaken and analysed using the DSM-5 as a retrospective interpretive framework alongside the Ayurvedic constructs of manas prakṛti, sadvṛtta, and unmāda. DISCUSSION: The narrative's behavioural patterns and psychosocial factors align with the Conduct Disorder-Antisocial Personality Disorder spectrum. A rājasa-dominant manas prakṛti, compounded by sustained sadvṛtta violation, offers the closer constitutional parallel to Dhundhukārī's lifelong conduct, while the unmāda framework offers a culturally grounded differential diagnosis, and its daiva-vyapāśraya modality accounts for the narrative's eventual resolution. Reading Indian scriptures alongside these indigenous frameworks contributes to cultural psychiatry and underscores the value of engaging indigenous knowledge systems, mythology, and spiritual traditions in developing culturally relevant psychiatric perspectives. CONCLUSION: Revisiting scriptural characters through complementary contemporary and indigenous frameworks may enrich academic understanding and support culturally sensitive psychiatric practice in the Indian setting.