Variations of Drunkenness: Alcohol Consumption in Tantra

Following the widespread and burgeoning interest in the use of psychedelics in American culture, there has been an increased discussion in Religious Studies regarding how psychedelics were, are and could be employed for spiritual ends. The inclusion of psychedelics into religious practice was easily adapted in counterculture currents, such as the practice of Yoga. With the emergence of psychedelic retreat centers aimed at an educated and urban professional class there has been a blending of purported “shamanic” religious practices with Yoga and Western esoterism.

In this paper we explore the precedent (if any) in a traditional South Asian context for the inclusion of hallucinogens in spiritual endeavors. We do this primarily on theoretical grounds by problematizing the concept of intoxication. This we do through an examination of descriptions of intoxicated states, the intoxicant(s) that brought on such a state, and whether the actors link intoxication with religious aims.

Nowadays there is a linkage between the chemicals that bring on intoxication and the varieties of intoxicated states. For example, THC is the active chemical in cannabis that brings on the high of the plant. Such an understanding of chemical compounds was not present in the premodern world, and intoxicating potential was treated as a natural characteristic of a substance. For this reason, there was no concept of alcoholic drinks or drunkenness in premodern South Asia. Rather, there were various drinks containing alcohol that all brought on intoxication (_unmatta/mada_), which were viewed as distinct from one another and were consumed for various reasons. In short, there was no knowledge of “alcohol” being present in these shared drinks.

We will show that the standard translations from Sanskrit to English for any type of alcoholic drink were (and continue to be) “alcohol” and “liquor.” As already noted, translating anything from a premodern context to “alcohol” utterly fails to capture the understanding of the drink to the translated text’s author. Furthermore, including “liquor” in the translation to English of any premodern text from South Asia is anachronistic; distillation was not a practice in South Asia until its importation in the early modern period from alchemy-derived distillation in Central Asia.

_unmatta/mada_, the word in Sanskrit for intoxication, is the same word for madness. The separation that we conceptually draw between madness and chemical intoxication was not made by authors of Sanskrit texts. Drunkenness, insanity, hallucinating, and delusional paranoia are all _unmatta/mada_. The distinction between these types is not captured by terminology alone in the premodern literature we investigate. It is a distinction brought to the text by contemporary scholars in their attempt to better understand the material.

We argue that in tantric and yogic contexts alcoholic drinks were consumed to bring on _unmatta/mada_-as-intoxication for spiritual aims. We argue that the known hallucinogen Datura metel was not consumed to bring on _unmatta/mada_-as-intoxication for spiritual aims, but was rather consumed to bring on _unmatta/mada_-as-madness/delirium for nefarious aims. We therefore introduce to the textual material distinctions between types of _unmatta/mada_.

From here we explore the employment of different kinds of alcoholic drinks towards a variety of ends. There are drinks that are exclusively consumed socially, as well as drinks (e.g., _surā_) that are heavily incorporated into tantric and yogic practices. We note that the actors involved viewed these alcoholic drinks to be separate types of intoxicants, and therefore suggest that the experience of intoxication was different depending on the drink consumed. That is to say, we speculate that the consumption of _surā_ was preferred over other intoxicants in a ritual context due to the experience of the drunkenness it brought about. It brought on a state of drunkenness heavier than that of other drinks (_surā_ seems to have the highest alcohol content of premodern South Asian drinks), but without causing a delirium that is unmanageable for the experienced drinker. As noted in the next paragraph, _surā_ is explicitly forbidden in polite, Brahmanical society. We also speculate that other intoxicants (datura, betel, ergot, etc.) were not included in such a ritual context since the state of intoxication they bring about was not germane to the experience of drunkenness sought after through the consumption of _surā_.

Finally, we explore the relationship between intoxicant consumption and transgression. We assert that the consumption of alcohol in a ritual context was not due to a position that the intoxicating state gave the actor insight of a spiritual nature. Rather, the consumption of alcohol in tantric and yogic contexts was done for transgression and/or fun. The transgressive aspect of alcohol consumption is directly tied into an explicit and intentional departure by tantric practitioners from teetotaling Brahmanical hegemony. The fun aspect requires little explanation; tantric practitioners frequently hosted bacchanalian gatherings (_gaṇacakra_) that involved heavy drinking. These raucous parties were more about generating a sense of community, rather than transgressing social norms (although there was plenty of transgressive behavior involved).