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Acharya Charaka lived from around 100 to 200 BCE. Acharya Charaka was the son of Vishuddha Krishi and a disciple of Vaishampayana Rishi. His birthplace is not known nor mentioned in any treatise, but there are references quoted regarding the Himalayas, panchanandpura, etc by him which are situated around northwestern areas of India. Thus, a loose conclusion can be drawn about the birthplace of acharya Charaka.
 
Acharya Charaka lived from around 100 to 200 BCE. Acharya Charaka was the son of Vishuddha Krishi and a disciple of Vaishampayana Rishi. His birthplace is not known nor mentioned in any treatise, but there are references quoted regarding the Himalayas, panchanandpura, etc by him which are situated around northwestern areas of India. Thus, a loose conclusion can be drawn about the birthplace of acharya Charaka.
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== Charaka Samhita pf Acharya Charaka ==
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== Who Was Acharya Charaka? ==
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Acharya Vagbhata author of “Ashtanga Hridaya” (ayurvedic treatise), mentioned Charaka in his texts, this suggests he lived before his time period.
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Acharya Charaka lived from around 100 to 200 BCE. Acharya Charaka was Vishuddha Krishi's son and Vaishampayana Rishi's disciple. His birthplace is not known nor mentioned in any treatise, but there are references quoted regarding the Himalayas, panchanandpura, etc by him which are situated around northwestern areas of India. Thus, a loose conclusion can be drawn about the birthplace of acharya Charaka being in the Northwestern regions of then India/ Bharat.
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“Charaka” as it is termed as a physician who moves from one place to another providing medical advice and treatment is a broad-spectrum word. Thus, there are many speculations regarding the original name of the author of Charaka Samhita. It is believed by certain historians that “Patanjali” himself is Charaka in this context and some historians believe that “Charaka” was a term used for a group of physicians.
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Commentator Chakrapani mentioned Acharya Charaka as Bhashyakar, which means commentator or teekakar.
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Acharya Charaka is also often considered by certain historians, a student of Takshashila university (an ancient Indian university located in the city of Takshila, near the Indus river, it was founded by Bharata who was a brother of Lord Rama, it is now somewhere near Pakistan) since “Charika” and “charuta” words are often used to suggest the student or scholar of that university.
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According to some historians, Acharya Charaka was the physician of king Kanishka. “Aswaghosh” was the name of one of the Raj Vaidya (physician to the king) during the period of king Kanishka, he initially wrote “buddhacharitra” and “saundranand” and later redacted Agnivesha Tantra. But again, the writing when compared of these two texts with Charaka Samhita, they seem different. Thus, after Aswagosh, Charka became the Raj vaidya of King Kanishka who did the redaction of Agnivesha Tantra.
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According to Bhavapraksha, Charaka was the incarnation of the Shesh Naga (Shesh naga or Adishesha is a serpentine demigod, often referred to with lord Vishnu). Also, “sage Patanjali” is considered the reincarnation of Shesh naga, thus “Sage Patanjali” who wrote “Mahabhashya” and “Yogasutra” could be one and the same person. But, the time period of Sage Patanjali and acharya Charka who redacted Agnivesha Tantra is different.
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It is still unclear which Charka Acharya exactly redacted the Agnivesha tantra amidst plenty of opinions and conclusions of various historians, Acharya Charaka, the Father of medicine could actually be of the name Charaka.
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== Charaka Samhita of Acharya Charaka ==
 
Charaka Samhita is a huge treatise that consists of 9296 sutras (sutras literally mean “thread” and in this context these are aphorisms) written in Sanskrit, which is divided into 120 chapters divided into 8 sections. These Sutras are in the form of both Prose and Poetry.  
 
Charaka Samhita is a huge treatise that consists of 9296 sutras (sutras literally mean “thread” and in this context these are aphorisms) written in Sanskrit, which is divided into 120 chapters divided into 8 sections. These Sutras are in the form of both Prose and Poetry.  
 
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