India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c10.s2.3

c10.s2.3

*CHARAKA*—The peripatetic scholar was called *charaka*, as distinct from the *māṇava* and *antevāsin* who were attached to their schools (V.1.11, *Māṇava-charakābhyāṁ khañ*). Vaiśampāyana was called a *charaka*, obviously on the basis of his literary activities from place to place; his pupils following in his footsteps were also known as *charakas*. The *charakas* were like post-graduate scholars who after finishing their studies sought higher knowledge by travelling. The expression *chārikaṁ charantā* is applied in the *Jātakas* to advanced students of the Takshaśilā university, who after reaching the end of their studies travelled to train themselves in the direct knowledge of country observances (*Sonaka Jātaka*, V. 247). In the *Bṛihad. Up.* we find Bhujyu Lāhyāyani mentioning to Yājñavalkya his wanderings in the Madra country as a *charaka* (*Madreshu charakāḥ paryavrajāma*, III.3.1). Yuan Chwang mentions about Pāṇini himself that he travelled widely in search of linguistic material, interrogating learned men in different localities.