TEXTS OF AYURVEDA

Compilations of Atreya and Agnivesha are lost. The knowledge we now have is by three surviving texts of Charaka, Sushruta and Vaghbata. Charaka (1500 B.C.) based his Samhita on Agnivesha Samhita. Sushruta (4th century A.D.) based his Samhita on the Dhanvantari School of Ayurveda. Vaghbata (5th century A.D.) compiled the third set of major texts called Ashtanga Sangraha and Ashtanga Hridaya. The former is more succinct and is based on both Atreya and Dhanwantari schools. Atreya’s School of Physicians and Dhanwantari’s School of Surgeons became the basis of Ayurveda and helped organize and systematically classify into branches of medicine and surgery.

Sixteen major supplements (Nighantus) were written in the ensuing years – Dhanwantari Bhavaprakasha, Raja and Shaligrama to name a few – that helped refine the practice of Ayurveda. New drugs were added and ineffective ones were discarded. Expansion of application, identification of new illnesses and finding substitute treatments seemed to have been an evolving process. Close to 2000 plants that were used in healing diseases and abating symptoms were identified in these supplements.

Dridhabala in the 4th century revised the Charaka Samhita. The texts of Sushruta Samhita were revised and supplemented by Nagarjuna in the 6th century in a treatise called Upa-hridaya.

There developed eight branches/divisions of Ayurveda: 

Kaya-chikitsa (Internal Medicine)
Shalakya Tantra (surgery and treatment of head and neck, Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology)
Shalya Tantra (Surgery)
Agada Tantra (Toxicology)
Bhutha Vidya (Psychiatry)
Kaumara bhritya (Pediatrics)
Rasayana (science of rejuvenation or anti-aging)
Vajikarana (the science of fertility).

These are based on the references to the authors that seem to have surfaced in earlier texts. When the history is completely rewritten and there is no more controversy, everyone hopefully can agree upon a constant date. Until then we should not worry about the time line and only admire the scientific approach these ancient authors followed, striving to perfect the art of healing that could rival a modern scientific research.


Many modern medications were derived from plants alluded to in Ayurveda texts. The oft cited example is that of Rauwolfia serpentina that was used to treat headache, anxiety and snakebite. Its derivative is used in treating blood pressure today.

Two major areas of contribution of Indian physicians were in treating snakebite and prevention of small pox. Detailed account of steps to be followed after a poisonous snake bite including application of tourniquet and lancing the site by connecting the two fang marks and sucking the poison out is described. A decoction of the medicinal plant Rauwolfia serpentina is next applied to the wound.

A form of vaccination for small pox was commonly practiced in India long before the West discovered the method. A small dose of pus from the pustule of small pox lesion was inoculated to develop resistance. Such methods of building immunity were practiced in other fields as well, against other diseases in order to develop antibodies against the infecting organism or a poison. 

Charaka Samhita

Some authors date him as far back as the 6th century B.C. during Buddha period. The sacred trust between physician and patient was held in high esteem by Charaka and patient confidentiality, similar to the Hippocratic Oath, was deemed the proper conduct for a practicing physician. Charaka also told us that the word Ayurveda was derived from Ayus, meaning life and Veda, meaning knowledge. Nevertheless, according to Charaka the word Ayus connotes more than just life. Ayus denotes a combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul. The principles of treatment in Charaka’s teachings took a holistic approach that treated not just the symptoms of the disease but the body, mind and soul as single entity.


Compiled by Charaka in the form of discussions and symposiums held by many scholars, Charaka Samhita is the most ancient and authoritative text that has survived. Written in Sanskrit in verse form, it has 8400 metrical verses. Following the Atreya School of Physicians, the Samhita deals mainly with the diagnosis and treatment of disease process through internal and external application of medicine. Called Kaya-chikitsa (internal medicine), it aims at treating both the body and the spirit and to strike a balance between the two. Following diagnosis, a series of methods to purify both the body and spirit with purgation and detoxification, blood letting and emesis as well as enema (known as Pancha-karma) are utilized. The emphasis seems to be to tackle diseases in the early phase or in a preventative manner before the first symptoms appear.

Ayurvedic diagnosis and treatment is traditionally divided into eight branches (sthanas) based on the approach of a physician towards a disease process. Charaka described them thus:

1. Sutra-sthana, general principles
2. Nidana-sthana, pathology
3. Vimana-sthana, diagnostics
4. Sharira-sthana, physiology and anatomy
5. Indriya-sthana, prognosis 
6. Chikitsa-sthana, therapeutics 
7. Kalpa-sthana, pharmaceutics 
8. Siddhi-sthana, successful treatment.

Detailed accounts of various methods of diagnosis, study of various stages of symptoms and the comprehensive management of debilitating diseases like diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, asthma and arthritic conditions are to be found in the Charaka Samhita. There is even a detailed account of fetal development in the mother’s womb, which can rival descriptions of modern medical text books. Charaka lists more than 500 remedies in his Samhita.

Charaka also wrote details about building a hospital. A good hospital should be located in a breezy spot free of smoke and objectionable smells and noises. Even the equipment needed including the brooms and brushes are detailed. The personnel should be clean and well behaved. Details about the rooms, cooking area and the privies are given. Conversation, recitations and entertainment of the patient were encouraged and said to aid in healing the ailing patient.

Sushruta Samhita

Sushruta was a surgeon in the Gupta courts in the 4th century A.D. He followed Dhanwanthari School of Surgery and is one of the earliest surgeons of recorded history. Though Indian mythology is full of accounts of healing through transplantation of head and limbs as well as eye balls, Sushruta Samhita is the first authentic text to describe methodology of plastic surgery, cosmetic and prosthetic surgery, Cesarean section and setting of compound fractures. Sushruta had in his possession an armamentarium of 125 surgical instruments made of stone, metal and wood. Forceps, scalpels, trocars, catheters, syringes, saws, needles and scissors were all available to the surgeon. Rhinoplasty (plastic surgery of the nose) was first presented to the world medical community by Sushruta in his Samhita, where a detailed method of transposition of a forehead flap to reconstruct a severed nose is given. Severed noses were common form of punishment. Torn ear lobes also were common due to heavy jewelry worn on ear lobes. Sushruta described a method of repair of the torn ear lobes. Fitting of prosthetics for severed limbs were also commonly performed feats.

Sushruta wrote, “Only the union of medicine and surgery constitutes the complete doctor. The doctor who lacks knowledge of one of these branches is like a bird with only one wing.” While Charaka concentrated on the kaya-chikitsa (internal medicine), Sushruta’s work mainly expounded on the Shalya Tantra (surgery). 

The Samhita contains mostly poetry verses but also has some details in prose. 72 different ophthalmic diseases and their treatment are mentioned in great detail. Pterygium, glaucoma and treatment of conjunctivitis were well known to Sushruta. Removal of cataract by a method called couching, wherein the opaque lens is pushed to a side to improve vision was practiced routinely. Techniques of suturing and many varieties of bandaging, puncturing and probing, drainage and extraction are detailed in the manuscript. Sushruta lists more than 700 herbal medicines. 

Ashtanga Hridaya

Vaghbata in the 5th century compiled two sets of texts called Ashtanga Sangraha and Ashtanga Hridaya. The latter of the two combines both the Atreya and Dhanwantari schools. It details the Kaya-chikitsa of Charaka Samhita and the various surgical procedures of Sushruta Samhita. Exhaustive descriptions of kapha, vayu and pitta are given. However, the emphasis seems to be more on the physiological rather than the spiritual aspects of the disease processes. Ashtanga Sangraha is written in prose whereas the Ashtanga Hridaya is in poetry form