Caraka (Āyurveda scholar)

Caraka—Scholars differ as to who was Caraka. It is a matter of debate among most scholars as to whether a particular person will be accepted by the word of Caraka. According to most scholars, Caraka is the name of a branch of Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda. And the people of this branch community are called Caraka. Therefore, any person associated with this Vedic branch is the author of the Caraka-Saṃhitā. Again, some scholars have associated the word of Caraka with Bauddhacārikā. Which means itinerant. The name of a branch of the Atharvaveda is ‘Vaidyacāraṇa’ which is not available recently. Maybe Āyurveda had a special relationship with it, and Caraka originated from Cāraṇa. There were two types of sages -decent and nomadic. The first type of sage used to build a hut and the second type of sage used to go around. This shows that Caraka was a nomadic sage who did not stay in one place.

According to another, Caraka is the incarnation of the Śeṣa-nāga. It is written in the manifestation that when Lord Viṣṇu incarnated as a fish, Anantadeva received Āyurveda under the Atharvaveda. He was distressed to see the creatures of the earth afflicted by disease and appeared as the son of a sage named Ṣaḍaṅgabettā to alleviate the plight of the people. He became famous as Caraka as he appeared on earth in the form of ‘Cara’. According to many scholars, Caraka and Patañjali are the same people. Because both of them have written commentaries. But a closer look at their writings reveals that this judgment is not correct. The famous Buddhist poet Aśvaghoṣa was the royal poet of Kaniṣka. His two most famous works are Buddhacarita and Saundarānanda. There is a discussion about Āyurveda in two Kāvyas. From the description of Aśvaghoṣa, it seems that he used the Caraka-Saṃhitā, but he did not mention Caraka’s name.

Mentioned the name of the main advisor–

‘vālmīkirādau ca sasarja padyaṃ jagrantha yanna cyavano maharṣiḥ |
cikitsitaṃ yacca cakāra nātriḥ paścāttadātreya ṛṣirjagāda ||’^[1]

From this, it is understood that Caraka was before Aśvaghoṣa. Judging by the interrelationship between Caraka and Suśruta, it can be said that the original version of Suśruta preceded the Caraka-Saṃhitā but the second version was after the Caraka Saṃhitā. Caraka was first quoted by Vāgbhaṭṭa. Vāgbhaṭṭa's first work was a collection of Aṣṭāṅga-Saṃgraha, following Suśruta and Vāgbhaṭṭa's second work was a collection of Aṣṭāṅga-Saṃgraha, following Caraka. From this, it is understood that during the time of Vāgbhaṭṭa (6th Century) the fame and recognition of Caraka became codified. At this time Bhaṭṭāra Hariścandra took the task of interpreting this book into his own hands. Before this, Maharṣi Caraka, as the author of the Carak Saṃhitā, was not used in this sense in all works, but in another sense.

It is not possible to determine at what time Munivara Caraka appeared. However, it can be said with certainty that he was born before the advent of Vaiyākaraṇa Maharṣi Pāṇini. Because Pāṇini in his grammar book ‘Aṣṭādhyāyī’ -‘kaṭacarakālluka’ has fixed a form of this formula, in ‘carakenaproktamadhīyateyetecarakāḥ |’ -in this place there is a ‘luk’ of the suffix ‘nimi’ after the word Caraka. Seeing this, European archaeologists speculate that Caraka here means the disciples of Caraka. If this assumption is true, then Panini appeared more than four hundred and two thousand years before the present time. That is, Maharṣi Caraka is ahead of them. Dr Dasgupta acknowledges Caraka as a contemporary of Kaniṣka. The period of Caraka (2nd BC) is supposed to be contemporary with the period of Sunga. Because this is also the time of writing Pātañjala Mahābhāṣya and Yogasūtra. That is, we can put Caraka before this book. We find in the Caraka Samhita the source of the words which are mentioned in the Mahābhāṣya and Sāṅkhyakārikā, which are the direct obstacles.

Sri Gurupada Haldar speaks of two Carakas -one a disciple of Vaiśampāyana and the other a royal physician of Kaniṣka. He also admitted the name of the second Caraka as Kapilbala. According to Dr C. Kunhan Raja, the word Caraka seems to be a Pahlavi language, not Sanskrit. The Caraka-Samhita was translated into the Pahlavi language in the early centuries of this period. Therefore, the period of Caraka can be called the second BC. According to the signs of social and religious conditions found in the Caraka Saṃhitā, the Caraka can be placed in the line between the Śuṅgakāla or Maurya Śuṅga period^[2].

Ācārya Dṛḍhabala is famous as a reformer of the great book of Caraka- Saṃhitā, the great book of Ayurvedic medicine. One-third of the Caraka-Saṃhitā was not available at that time. Which the Dṛḍhabala completed by combining the Sutras based on another Tantra. In this way, he completed sixteen chapters of Cikitsāsthāna, twelve chapters of Kalpa sthāna and completed Siddhi sthāna. He provided the terminology of Sanskrit. Dṛḍhavala was a resident of Kashmir. His father's name was Kapilbala. The fourth century of the Gupta period is considered to be the period of Dṛḍhabala. According to Harnell Mādhava, Dṛḍhabala and Vāgbhaṭṭa II appeared between the seventh and ninth centuries^[3].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

(BC–1/43); Buddhacaritaṃ Canto–I by Aśvaghoṣa, trans. Jayashree Chattopadhyay, Kolkata, Sanskrit Pustaka Bhandara, 2007, p. 31.

[2]:

Kaviraj Vagishwar Shukla, History of Ayurveda, Varanasi, Chaukhamba Amarabharati Prakashan, 2016, pp. 44-47.

[3]:

Anup Kumar Gakkhara & Anil Gakkhara, Āyurveda Kā Itihāsa, Varanasi, Chaukhambha Publishers, 2016, pp. 109-111.