ATREYA

Rishi Atreya

Atreya (Aatreya) Rishi, or Atreya Punarvasu, was a descendant of Atri, one of the great Aryan sages (rishis) whose accomplishments are detailed in the Purans. Sage Atreya was a renowned scholar of Ayurved and six schools of early Ayurved 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 Nagnajit of Gandhar Kingdom, who finds mention in the Mahabharat. The original contents of Charaksamhita are credited to Atreya, which were in turn codified and edited by Agnivesh and Charak. According to Surendranath Dasgupt, the old Ayurved of Atreya-Charak school probably has its root in the now extinct Caranvaidya branch of Atharvved.

Influences in Ayurvedic schools :

According to the Charak tradition, there existed six schools of medicine, founded by the disciples of the sage Punarvasu Atreya. Each of his disciples, Agnivesh, Bhela, Jatukarna, Parashar, Harit, and Ksharapani, composed a Samhita. Of all the six, the one composed by Agnivesh was most revered. According to Dr. Tustomu Yamashita, the Bhela or Bheda(la) Samhita is often quoted by later authors and commentators of Ayurved. 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.

Charak later on, taking cues from Agnivesh Samhita, produced the now renowned work Charak Samhita around 300 B.C. which survived and has been handed down to us in the form of Bower Manuscript dated around 4th century. Charak Samhita is the foundational text of Ayurved.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org