A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c17.27

v1.c17.27

Some passages of Vedic texts which mention a Caraka or use related words are subject to disagreeing interpretations. The Carakācārya of the Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa is, according to Sāyaṇa’s commentary, someone who teaches the art of walking on bamboo stilts (vaṃśāgranartana),88a i.e., a kind of dancer (naṭaviśeṣa); this explanation, pointing to a person of a low social status, is accepted by the Gulabkunverba team and Hemarājaśarman,89 while others prefer to see in this Carakācārya a teacher of the Carakaśākhā.90 The Vājasaneyisaṃhitā is, like the Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa, acquainted with a Carakācārya who is enumerated among the victims at the human sacrifice called puruṣamedha; this person is regarded as a teacher of the Carakaśākhā, denunciated as the representative of a rival school,91 as a person of low status,92 a roaming mendicant (bhikṣu),93 or the medical authority Caraka.94