Adhibhautika in Ayurveda pertains to fragile or mortal physical beings. It can be defined in another way, too, Adhi means ‘based in’ and bhautika means ‘physical’ or related to mortal or fragile beings. Therefore, Adhibhautika is used to mean, in the context of disease and sickness, those ailments that have a physical or bodily cause. The ‘triad of pains’ (tapatraya), as given by Sushruta in his Samhita, refers to hardships in worldly life; it denotes pain in philosophy and in Ayurveda.
Adhibhautika diseases are of two kinds, namely, traumatic and seasonal – sanghatabalapravritta and kalabalapravritta.
Traumatic covers diseases causing damage to the physique of a person through a blow, a fall, physical encounters with antagonists of superior prowess, attack from beasts of prey and poisonous bites.
Seasonal arises from seasonal changes such as heat, rain humidity, etc., as well as phenomena such as floods, storms, droughts etc.
Ayurveda recommends various remedies for such as physical exercise, nourishing food, prayer and even incantations and spells such as chanting of the name of Arjuna against thunderbolts and the recitation of Panchayudha Stotram of Vishnu during times of danger in the woods.