Charaka

Charaka is held to have redacted and expanded an earlier body of medical teaching attributed to the sage Punarvasu Atreya, transmitted through his student Agnivesha, into the systematic text that carries Charaka's own name.

The Charaka Samhita covers diagnosis, physiology, and treatment across eight sections, and its emphasis on observing the individual patient's constitution before prescribing treatment remains a defining principle of Ayurvedic practice, distinguishing it from a one-size-fits-all approach to medicine.