A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c17.30

v1.c17.30

The Carakas formed one of the schools (śākhā) of the Black Yajurveda96 and are subdivided into twelve ramifications in the Caraṇavyūha97, one of the Pariśiṣṭas of the Atharvaveda. One of the recensions of the Black Yajurveda, the Kāṭhakasaṃhitā, may be connected with the Carakas98 and be based on an older and lost Carakasamhitā,99 because the Kaṭha school called itself Carakakaṭha100 or Cārāyaṇīyakaṭha in order to distinguish it from the school of the Kapiṣṭhalakaṭhas. The precise extent of the term Caraka is, however, uncertain and it may have been applied to the whole or part of the Black Yajurveda.101