The usual way in which the Sanskrit texts dealt with negative possession was to identify and classify invasive spirits in demonologies, then to medicalize their possession. The most important and influential texts undertaking this are the foundational works of Āyurveda, as well as a number of Tantras. I offer new translations of the relevant sections of the three primary Āyurvedic texts—the Caraka, Suśruta, and Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya Saṃhitās—which provide specific demonologies in the context of discussions of insanity (unmāda).
I also provide extracts from some of the relevant tantric texts, the most important of which is the Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati, and a hybrid text of Āyurveda, ritual, and dharmaśāstra called Madanamahārṇava.