Charaka

Charaka (Sanskrit चरक) (~6th – 2nd century BCE) was one of the principal contributors to the ancient art and science of Ayurveda, a system of medicine and lifestyle developed in Ancient India. He is famous for authoring the medical treatise, the Charaka Samhita. Charaka has been identified as a native of Kashmir. He is well known as the "father of medicine".

The term Charaka is a label said to apply to "wandering scholars" or "wandering physicians". According to Charaka's translations, health and disease are not predetermined and life may be prolonged by human effort and attention to lifestyle. As per Indian heritage and Ayurvedic system, prevention of all types of diseases have a more prominent place than treatment, including restructuring of lifestyle to align with the course of nature and four seasons, which will guarantee complete wellness.

Charaka seems to have been an early proponent of "prevention is better than cure" doctrine. The following statement is attributed to Acharya Charaka:

A physician who fails to enter the body of a patient with the lamp of knowledge and understanding can never treat diseases. He should first study all the factors, including environment, which influence a patient's disease, and then prescribe treatment. It is more important to prevent the occurrence of disease than to seek a cure.

Charaka contributions to the fields of physiology, etiology and embryology have been recognised.

Charaka is generally considered as the first physician to present the concept of digestion, metabolism, immunity and Sexual problems. A body functions because it contains three dosha or principles, namely movement (vata), transformation (pitta) and lubrication and stability (kapha). The doshas correspond to the Western classification of humors, bile, phlegm and wind. These doshas are produced when dhatus (blood, flesh and marrow) act upon the food eaten. For the same quantity of food eaten, one body, however, produces dosha in an amount different from another body. That is why one body is different from another.

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