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Charaka Samhita — Charaka

~100 AD · Transmission: Silenced
MedicineTreatiseIndian

The Charaka Samhita, compiled in its current form c. 100 AD from older oral tradition, systematizes Ayurvedic internal medicine into 8 sthanas (sections) and 120 chapters. It establishes principles of clinical diagnosis based on the three doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), a pharmacology of more than 1,000 plants and minerals, and a medical code of ethics that precedes the Hippocratic Oath in some respects. It defines disease as a systemic imbalance and health as dynamic equilibrium. Translated into Persian and Arabic c. 8th century, it was directly incorporated by Al-Razi and Ibn Sina into their medical encyclopedias. The Bṛhattrayī ('Great Trio') of Ayurvedic texts includes the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita, and the Ashtanga Hridayam.

InstitutionItinerant medical tradition; compilation attributed to the school of Atreya Punarvasu
Historical regionNorthern India (present-day Punjab/Kashmir)
Primary sourceCharaka Samhita, c. 100 AD (Dridhabala's redaction of Charaka's original) — critical edition with English translation: P.V. Sharma, Chaukhamba Orientalia, Varanasi, 1981-1994 (7 vols.)
Secondary sourceBritannica — britannica.com/science/history-of-medicine; IJO — journals.lww.com/ijo/fulltext/2003/51020/susruta_of_ancient_india.2.aspx
Original languageClassical Sanskrit
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