Who among the following was a contributor to the subject of medicine in ancient India?

The correct answer is Charaka.

Key Points

• Charaka was a contributor to the subject of medicine in ancient India.
• He was the court physician of Kaniska.
• Charaka was one of the principal contributors to Ayurveda medicine in ancient India.
• He is best known for his work Charaka Samhita.
• Charaka Samhita:
  • It is also called Caraka-Samhita.
  • It is a detailed text on ancient Indian medicine attributed to Charaka, a practitioner of Ayurveda, India's traditional medical system.
  • Charaka-Samhita, also spelt Caraka-Samhita or Caraka- samhita, comprehensive text on ancient Indian medicine credited to Charaka.
  • He was a practitioner of the traditional system of Indian medicine known as Ayurveda.
  • Charaka is thought to have flourished sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. 
  • The Charaka-Samhita, in its current form, is believed to have originated in the first century CE.
  • According to ancient Indian medicine studies, the original text was written by Agnivesha.
  • One of six disciples of Ayurvedic scholar Punarvasu Atreya, many centuries ago,
    • (The other five disciples were Bhela, Jatukarna, Parashara, Harita, and Ksharapani).
  • Each of the disciples went on to write their own Samhitas, combining both Atreya's ideas and their own understanding of the subject.
  • The Agnivesha-Samhita, written by Agnivesha, was unlike any other in terms of depth and quality.
  • It came to be known as the Charaka-Samhita after Charaka refined and annotated it.
  • The treatise was divided into eight parts, or ashtanga sthanas, by Charaka:
    • sutra, nidana, vimana, sarira, endriya, chikitsa, Kalpa, and Siddha; each section had multiple chapters.

Additional Information

• Panini:
  • He was born in Shalatula on the Indus River in present-day Pakistan.
  • He was a Sanskrit grammarian and gave a comprehensive and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology, and morphology.
  • He is considered the founder of the language and literature of Sanskrit.
  • His major work involves a treatise called Astadhyayi (or Astaka). It consists of eight chapters, each subdivided into quarter chapters.
  • Under Astadhyayi, he distinguished between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of communication.
  • He gave formal production rules and definitions to describe Sanskrit grammar.
  • He gave about 1700 basic elements like nouns, verbs, vowels, and consonants he put them into classes.
  • Pushyamitra Shunga is a post-Mauryan king whereas the birth year of Panini is not known. Experts give dates of Panini in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries which are all Pre-Mauryan.
  • Astadhyayi (or Astaka) is Panini's major work related to Sanskrit grammar.
• Harsha:
  • Harshavardhana ruled from 606-647 CE.
  • He lived from 590 to 647 CE and was the last ruler of the Vardhana Empire.
  • He was the king of the Vardhana dynasty and was the son of Prabhakarvardhana.
  • He took the title of sakal uttara patha natha (lord of northern India).His biography Harshacharita ("Deeds of Harsha") was written by Sanskrit poet Banabhatta.
  • He authored Nagananda, Ratnavali, Priyadarshika all written in the Sanskrit language.