CHARAK SHAPATH

CHARAK SHAPATH

TOPIC: Art & Culture

Context- The National Medical Commission has made a suggestion that the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors during their graduation ceremony should be replaced by a CharakShapath.

Concept-

About Charaksamhita:

• Charaka-samhita, also Caraka-samhita or Caraka-sahita, is a detailed text on ancient Indian medicine attributed to Charaka, a practitioner of Ayurveda, India’s traditional medical system.
• Maharishi CharakShapath is mentioned in Charaka Samhita.
• The Charaka-samhita, in its current form, is believed to have originated in the first century CE.
• Charaka is thought to have flourished sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE.
• According to ancient Indian medicine studies, the original text was written by Agnivesha, one of six disciples of Ayurvedic scholar PunarvasuAtreya, many centuries ago (the other five disciples were Bhela, Jatukarna, Parashara, Harita, and Ksharapani).
• It became known as the Charaka-samhita after Charaka refined and annotated it.
• Although Charaka studied all aspects of medicine, including the logic and philosophy behind the Indian medicinal method, he focused on disease diagnosis and viewed Ayurveda as a holistic health-care system that addressed both preventive and curative aspects.
• He also went into great detail about foetal generation and growth, human anatomy, and the role and malfunction of the body according to the tridosha (body’s three humours)—vata, pitta, and kapha.