Sanskrit text. Authorities vary as to the date of Charaka. He is said to have lived at times varying between 800 BCE and 78 CE. The Samhita, or Sanhita, is one of the most ancient and complete systems of Hindu medicine to have survived. It is arranged in the form of dialogues between master and pupil and is divided into eight books. Charaka’s writing is superior to that of Susruta in the accuracy of his descriptions. What Susruta is to surgery, Charaka is to medicine.

Edited and published with translations in Hindi, Gujerati and English. The Charaka Samhita is the oldest known Hindu text on Ayurveda (life sciences). It was followed by the Sushruta Samhita. Except for some topics and their emphasis, both discuss many similar subjects such as General Principles, Pathology, Diagnosis, Anatomy, Sensorial Prognosis, Therapeutics, Pharmaceutics and Toxicology, with Sushruta Samhita providing the foundation of surgery, while Charaka Samhita is primarily a foundation of medicine.