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<div style="font-size:162%; padding:.1em;"> [[Charak Samhita]] Online</div>

<div style="font-size:162%; padding:.1em;"> [[Charak Samhita]] Online</div>

<div style="font-size:95%;">the definitive text on Ayurveda available online </div>

<div style="font-size:95%;">the definitive text on [[Ayurveda]] available online </div>

<div id="articlecount" style="font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles in this website</div>

<div id="articlecount" style="font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles in this website</div>

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==Ayurveda==

==[[Ayurveda]]==

[[Ayurveda]], the Science of Life, traces back its origin to the Vedic ages in India. Considered a supplement to the Vedas, [[Ayurveda]] is a comprehensive system of health that focuses on leading a healthy life, helping an individual do his righteous duties (''dharma''), acquire wealth (''artha'') and gratification of desires (''kama''), and attain emancipation (''moksha'').

[[[[Ayurveda]]]], the Science of Life, traces back its origin to the Vedic ages in India. Considered a supplement to the Vedas, [[[[Ayurveda]]]] is a comprehensive system of health that focuses on leading a healthy life, helping an individual do his righteous duties (''dharma''), acquire wealth (''artha'') and gratification of desires (''kama''), and attain emancipation (''moksha'').

For thousands of years, [[Ayurveda]] evolved through a process of scientific inquiry involving the communities or societies (''loka''). Within communities, scientific knowledge was created by an interchange of information between patients, physicians, and researchers. Teachers would pass on their wisdom – updated with this scientific inquiry and application of their own learnings- to their students in an interactive manner, called as the ''Guru-Shishya'' (teacher/student) tradition. This knowledge was documented in the ''Brihatrayi'' (three major treatise), of which the [[Charak Samhita]] is considered the most important and definitive. However, due to suppression by foreign invaders and rulers of India for several centuries, Ayurveda went through its period of stagnation, or dark ages. There were no new updates or revisions to Ayurvedic text, for centuries. With the advent of modern medicine with focus on disease management, [[Ayurveda]] was relegated to relative obscurity.

For thousands of years, [[[[Ayurveda]]]] evolved through a process of scientific inquiry involving the communities or societies (''loka''). Within communities, scientific knowledge was created by an interchange of information between patients, physicians, and researchers. Teachers would pass on their wisdom – updated with this scientific inquiry and application of their own learnings- to their students in an interactive manner, called as the ''Guru-Shishya'' (teacher/student) tradition. This knowledge was documented in the ''Brihatrayi'' (three major treatise), of which the [[Charak Samhita]] is considered the most important and definitive. However, due to suppression by foreign invaders and rulers of India for several centuries, [[Ayurveda]] went through its period of stagnation, or dark ages. There were no new updates or revisions to Ayurvedic text, for centuries. With the advent of modern medicine with focus on disease management, [[[[Ayurveda]]]] was relegated to relative obscurity.

Today, as leading thinkers are searching for more effective definitions of health, [[Ayurveda]] is again in the spotlight. The new edition of the [[Charak Samhita]], with updated inferences and applications, is one step in re-initiating that process of interaction between teachers and scholars to help researchers in their quest for more effective solutions to problems of health.

Today, as leading thinkers are searching for more effective definitions of health, [[[[Ayurveda]]]] is again in the spotlight. The new edition of the [[Charak Samhita]], with updated inferences and applications, is one step in re-initiating that process of interaction between teachers and scholars to help researchers in their quest for more effective solutions to problems of health.

==Tradition of knowledge transfer==

==Tradition of knowledge transfer==

As mentioned earlier, the [[Charak Samhita]] epitomizes one of the finest examples of classical ''Vedic'' teacher-student (''Guru-Shishya'') interactions ever recorded, either in ancient or modern times. Though literally meaning the “Compendium of Charak”, it was actually authored by Agnivesh, an ancient physician of renown. Charak redacted the text called the Agnivesha tantra, believed to have been written circa 1000 BCE by Agnivesha, a disciple of the legendary Vedic sage, Punarvasu Atreya. There are no chronological records marking the evolution of the body of knowledge that is Ayurveda, but it is speculated that Charak lived sometime in the 8th century, BCE. A scholar named Dridhabala (300 CE) redacted and also worked on to restore some lost portions of the text.

As mentioned earlier, the [[Charak Samhita]] epitomizes one of the finest examples of classical ''Vedic'' teacher-student (''Guru-Shishya'') interactions ever recorded, either in ancient or modern times. Though literally meaning the “Compendium of Charak”, it was actually authored by Agnivesh, an ancient physician of renown. Charak redacted the text called the Agnivesha tantra, believed to have been written circa 1000 BCE by Agnivesha, a disciple of the legendary Vedic sage, Punarvasu Atreya. There are no chronological records marking the evolution of the body of knowledge that is [[Ayurveda]], but it is speculated that Charak lived sometime in the 8th century, BCE. A scholar named Dridhabala (300 CE) redacted and also worked on to restore some lost portions of the text.

In the last two thousand years, the popularity of [[Charak Samhita]] spread beyond the frontiers of the Indian subcontinent, when it was translated into Arabic (8th century CE) and Persian (10th century CE). With the spread of Buddhism, it got translated into Tibetan and subsequently, Mongolian languages. Approximately 43 commentaries in Sanskrit were written through centuries – of which, Chakrapanidutta’s Ayurveda Deepika (or the Light of Ayurveda) is considered the most authoritative.

In the last two thousand years, the popularity of [[Charak Samhita]] spread beyond the frontiers of the Indian subcontinent, when it was translated into Arabic (8th century CE) and Persian (10th century CE). With the spread of Buddhism, it got translated into Tibetan and subsequently, Mongolian languages. Approximately 43 commentaries in Sanskrit were written through centuries – of which, Chakrapanidutta’s [[Ayurveda]] Deepika (or the Light of [[Ayurveda]]) is considered the most authoritative.

==Fundamental concepts==

==Fundamental concepts==

==Sections==

==Sections==

*''[[Sutra Sthana]]'' (30 chapters) covers basic principles of Ayurveda with seven groups of tetrads (logical groupings of four chapters, or ''Chatushka'') including medicaments (''Bheshaja Chatushka''), preventive and promotive medicine (''Swastha Chatushka''), directions of utilizing Ayurveda principles (''Nirdesha Chatushka''), preparations useful for treatment (''Kalpana Chatushka''), Disease categories and classification of diseases (''Roga Chatushka''), Management principles of disease (''Yojana Chatushka'') and dietary principles (''Annapana Chatushka''). The last two chapters are called ''Sangraha Adhyaya'' including important aspects of ''Prana'' (vital energy) and summary of topics discussed in the entire Samhita.  

*''[[Sutra Sthana]]'' (30 chapters) covers basic principles of [[Ayurveda]] with seven groups of tetrads (logical groupings of four chapters, or ''Chatushka'') including medicaments (''Bheshaja Chatushka''), preventive and promotive medicine (''Swastha Chatushka''), directions of utilizing [[Ayurveda]] principles (''Nirdesha Chatushka''), preparations useful for treatment (''Kalpana Chatushka''), Disease categories and classification of diseases (''Roga Chatushka''), Management principles of disease (''Yojana Chatushka'') and dietary principles (''Annapana Chatushka''). The last two chapters are called ''Sangraha Adhyaya'' including important aspects of ''Prana'' (vital energy) and summary of topics discussed in the entire Samhita.  

* [[Nidana Sthana]] (8 chapters) discusses the etiopathogenesis and important clinical diagnostic tools for eight major diseases.

* [[Nidana Sthana]] (8 chapters) discusses the etiopathogenesis and important clinical diagnostic tools for eight major diseases.

==Importance of new edition==

==Importance of new edition==

Quite like any body of scientific knowledge, the [[Charak Samhita]] used to be a living document before it got into a “dark age” of relative stagnation. The world has changed since the originally redacted edition. A team of Ayurvedic scholars, biomedical researchers, modern medicine physicians, content managers, business consultants, and language editors have been working on this [[Charak Samhita New Edition (Wiki) Project|new edition project]]. True to its tradition of a dialog between a teacher and a student, it is aimed to be a “living and interactive” text, planned and redacted online to allow for a broader outreach and to serve as an online source of reference on Ayurveda.

Quite like any body of scientific knowledge, the [[Charak Samhita]] used to be a living document before it got into a “dark age” of relative stagnation. The world has changed since the originally redacted edition. A team of Ayurvedic scholars, biomedical researchers, modern medicine physicians, content managers, business consultants, and language editors have been working on this [[Charak Samhita New Edition (Wiki) Project|new edition project]]. True to its tradition of a dialog between a teacher and a student, it is aimed to be a “living and interactive” text, planned and redacted online to allow for a broader outreach and to serve as an online source of reference on [[Ayurveda]].

The new edition has the same sequence of sections (and their chapters) as the original text, with the same logical progression starting with the [[Sutra Sthana]], covering the basic but generic principles of Ayurveda, right up to [[Siddhi Sthana]], covering the specifics of [[Panchakarma]] (five therapeutic procedures for body purification). Uttar Tantra section would be added subsequently.

The new edition has the same sequence of sections (and their chapters) as the original text, with the same logical progression starting with the [[Sutra Sthana]], covering the basic but generic principles of [[Ayurveda]], right up to [[Siddhi Sthana]], covering the specifics of [[Panchakarma]] (five therapeutic procedures for body purification). Uttar Tantra section would be added subsequently.

==Value added features==

==Value added features==

In the last century, modern medicine or allopathy has made significant strides in the area of disease management. Despite significant breakthroughs that it has witnessed, the incidence of disease continues to rise and healthcare costs are rising exponentially. It has become crucial to prevent the occurrence of diseases. Ayurveda primarily utilizes the defense strategy in health management as described in the treatise. Through the subsequent Uttar Tantra section, the new edition of the text will provide the clinician guidelines for using offense and defense strategies to win the war against human suffering from illness and create better health.   

In the last century, modern medicine or allopathy has made significant strides in the area of disease management. Despite significant breakthroughs that it has witnessed, the incidence of disease continues to rise and healthcare costs are rising exponentially. It has become crucial to prevent the occurrence of diseases. [[Ayurveda]] primarily utilizes the defense strategy in health management as described in the treatise. Through the subsequent Uttar Tantra section, the new edition of the text will provide the clinician guidelines for using offense and defense strategies to win the war against human suffering from illness and create better health.   

   

   

Thus, the new edition of the [[Charak Samhita]] is a work in progress. It has four sections:

Thus, the new edition of the [[Charak Samhita]] is a work in progress. It has four sections: