Biography of Maharishi Charak | Free PDF Download -

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CHARAK

“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”

CHARAK

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.

FATHER OF MEDICINE

Born in 300 BC Acharya Charak was one of the principal contributors to the ancient art and science of Ayurveda, a system of medicine and lifestyle developed in Ancient India.
Acharya Charak has been crowned as the Father of Medicine. His renowned work, the “Charak Samhita“, is considered as an encyclopedia of Ayurveda.
When the science of anatomy was confused with different theories in Europe, Acharya Charak revealed through his innate genius and enquiries the facts on human anatomy, embryology, pharmacology, blood circulation and diseases like diabetes, tuberculosis, heart disease, etc

FATHER OF MEDICINE

Charaka is generally considered as the first physician to present the concept of digestion, metabolism, and immunity.
A body functions because it contains three dosha or principles, namely movement (vata), transformation (pitta) and lubrication and stability (kapha).
Further, he stressed, illness is caused when the balance among the three doshas in a human body are disturbed. To restore the balance he prescribed medicinal drugs.
Charaka studied the anatomy of the human body and various organs. He gave 360 as the total number of bones, including teeth, present in the human body. He was right when he considered heart to be a controlling centre. He claimed that the heart was connected to the entire body through 13 main channels.

CHARAK SAMHITA

He is the author of the Charaka Samhita but actually it was written by Acharya Agrivesh as the name of „Agrivesh Tantra‟ in which Charka edited it with his own knowledge with some chapters and give it a new look.
The Charaka Samhita is one of the two foundational text of Ayurveda, the other being the Sushruta Samhita. The Charaka Samhita contains 120 adhyayas (chapters) divided into eight parts.

CHARAK SAMHITA

According to the Charaka tradition, there existed six schools of medicine.The one composed by Agnivesha was considered the best. The Agnivesha Samhitā was later revised by Charaka and it came to be known as Charaka Samhitā. The Charaka Samhitā was revised by Dridhbala.

Sutra Sthana
Nidan Sthana
Viman Sthana
Sharir Sthana
Indriya Sthana
Chikitsa Sthana
Kalpa Sthana
Siddhi Sthana

CHARAK SAMHITA

There were 8 main chapters in this book. There had been 120 sub chapters of which they all in total had 12,000 shlokas and description of 2,000 medicines. There were cures for diseases related to almost every body part of human body and all medicines had natural elements to cure the diseases.
In the “Charak Samhita” he has described the medicinal qualities and functions of 100,000 herbal plants. He has emphasized the influence of diet and activity on mind and body.
Through his genius and intuition, Acharya Charak made landmark contributions to Ayurveda.

DEATH

In 1960, he suffered a heart attack. He was treated by top doctors in India, including his friend Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal.
His health started deteriorating and he died on 7 March 1961 at the age of 74, from a cerebral stroke. At that time he was still in office as the Home Minister of India.