IX 



of Agmvesa, Hutita, Bhela, Susvata, Susruta, Kavala, and others. 



From this it would seem that the six disciples of Xtreya, 

 mentioned in Charaka, were not mythical beings, but authors of 

 books, for two of them, namely, Agnivesa and Bhela are mentioned 

 by Vagbhatta. It would appear also, that at the time Viigbbatta 

 lived, Agnivesa's work was not called by the name of Charaka, 

 and Susruta had also been written. Hence it follows that 

 Charaka's edition of Agnivesa, that is the work now called 

 Charaka, was probably edited after Susruta had b6en written. 

 Atreya is said to have lectured somewhere near the Himalaya, 

 and his name occurs very frequently in the Vedas. His 

 father Atri was a renowned sage, 'and the author of a law 

 treatise which* is current in his name. There is no clue to the 



* 



nativity of Charaka, but Dridhabala, who added some chapters to 

 his work, calls himself a native of Panchanada or the Panjab. * 

 Sasruta, on the other hand, is said to have been written in Benares, 

 From the facts detailed above, it is clear that the work called 

 Charaka was composed at a very early age. I will not attempt to 

 hit at the century before Christ in which it was probably written 

 as it is a question which can be best discussed by professed anti- 

 quarians. I may notice, however, that the book is composed in an 

 antiquated style and appears to have been written before the 

 spread of the Puranio form of Hinduism, as the names of modern 

 gods and goddesses do not occur in it, and the author does not, 

 at the commencement of the work, offer his salutations to any 

 mythological deity, as is usual with later writers. Beef was not 

 then, apparently, a forbidden food, for Charaka speaks of it as an 

 article of diet that should not be taken daily, t 



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