Atreya (आत्रेय) Rishi, or Atreya Punarvasu, was a descendant of

Atri Atri ( sa, अत्रि) or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous hymns to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the on ...

, one of the great

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

sages (

rishis ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

) whose accomplishments are detailed in the

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

. Sage Atreya was a renowned scholar of

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repo ...

and six schools of early Ayurveda was founded based on his teachings. He is credited as the writer of ''Bhela Samhita'', dating to a period of 6th century BCE. He is believed to have worked as the personal physician of King Nagnajita of

Gandhara Kingdom Gandhāra ( sa, गन्धार) was an Ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted ...

, who finds mention in the Mahabharata. The original contents of Charakasamhita are credited to Atreya, which were in turn codified and edited by Agnivesha and Charaka. According to Surendranath Dasgupta, The old Ayurveda of Atreya-Charaka school probably has its root in the now extinct ''Caranavaidya'' branch of Atharvaveda.

Influences in Ayurvedic schools

According to the Charaka tradition, there existed six schools of medicine, founded by the disciples of the sage Punarvasu Ātreya. Each of his disciples, Agnivesha, Bhela, Jatūkarna, Parāshara, Hārīta, and Kshārapāni, composed a Samhitā. Of all the six, the one composed by

Agnivesha Agnivesha ( sa, अग्निवेश, translit=Agniveśa) is a legendary rishi (sage) in Hinduism, reputedly one of the earliest authors on Ayurveda (Indian alternative medicine). He is described to have codified the knowledge of his precep ...

was most revered. According to Dr. Tustomu Yamashita, the Bhela or Bheda(la)Samhita is often quoted by later authors and commentators of Ayurveda. Some of the manuscripts of Bhela available are the Thanjavur Manuscript - a palm leaf manuscript kept in Maharaja Sarfoji's library in Thanjavur - and East Turkestan Manuscript, only one folio of a paper manuscript, now kept in Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.Mathematics and Medicine in Sanskrit, Edited by Dominik Wujastyk

Charaka Charaka was one of the principal contributors to Ayurveda, a system of medicine and lifestyle developed in Ancient India. He is known as an editor of the medical treatise entitled ''Charaka Samhita'', one of the foundational texts of classical ...

later on, taking cues from Agnivesa Samhita, produced the now renowned work

Charaka Samhita The ''Charaka Samhita'' (, “Compendium of ''Charaka''”) is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine). Along with the ''Sushruta Samhita'', it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from ancien ...

around 300 B.C. which survived and has been handed down to us in the form of

Bower Manuscript The Bower Manuscript is a collection of seven fragmentary Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. treatises found buried in a Buddhist memorial stupa near Kucha, northwestern China. Written in early Gupta script (late Brahmi script) on birch bark, it is vario ...

dated around 4th century. Charaka Samhita is the foundational text of

References

{{Rishis of Hindu mythology Brahmin gotras Rishis