The Charaka Samhita is among the earliest surviving Sanskrit medical manuals, and the most authoritative. Samhita is Sanskrit for compendium, and Charaka is a proper name. So translated, the work means "Charaka's Compendium." Although the exact date of composition of the Charaka Samhita is unknown, scholars estimate that it was written around 100 A.D. It was eventually supplemented, edited, and partially rewritten by other authors over an extended period up to 800 A.D. Charaka reiterates the teachings of the school of Atreya, a famous physician of antiquity, and lengthy passages take the form of a dialogue between Atreya and Agnivesha, Charaka's teacher. Charaka was translated into Persion and Arabic in the eighth century, and is still used today. Most of what is known about Indian medical science derives from this text and two others, the Susruta Samhita and the Ashtangahridaya Samhita.

The Charaka Samhita is long, running to...