01From Atreya to Charaka
The Samhita tells its own lineage. Bharadvaja went to Indra to learn Ayurveda and brought it back to the rishis gathered in the Himalaya. Punarvasu Atreya taught it to six pupils, of whom Agnivesha wrote the first treatise. Charaka later revised and enlarged it, and when parts were lost, Dridhabala of Panchanada completed the last chapters. The finished work has eight sthanas and 120 chapters, from Sutrasthana on principles to Siddhisthana on the five purifying therapies, panchakarma.
02What the physician must know
Charaka built medicine on the three doshas, vata, pitta and kapha, and on reasoning from evidence: direct observation, inference, the word of the competent, and yukti, reasoning from combined causes. He lists the four pillars of treatment, the physician, the medicine, the attendant and the patient. The Vimanasthana gives the oath a student takes on entering his teacher’s house: to work for the good of all creatures, never to harm a patient, never to disclose what is seen in a patient’s home. A Chinese translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka names a Charaka as physician to the Kushana king Kanishka; scholars debate whether this is the same man.
