Caraka-Saṃhitā Post 1 (1.1.1-3)

  

Caraka Saṃhitā: Sanskrit text, transliteration, grammar and translation

For the benefit of fellow Sanskrit students and for those interested in Ayurveda, I am undertaking this labour of love. Living at the source is the theme of my blog. And this offering is no different. Learn Sanskrit and access the original text personally – till then, these posts are trainer wheels!

The format is the same as #SanskritAppreciationHour (for those of you who remember it!), but not interactive in real time. Please feel free to tweet @RohiniBakshi with queries.

The order followed for this project is – Sanskrit text, followed by an English translation for ease. Then follows a transliteration of the Sanskrit and finally a word-by-word grammatical analysis to support the translation.

The Sanskrit text has been taken from Upendra Nath Sen’s Charaka Samhita (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.322332/page/n77/mode/2up)

The English Translation is of Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna (https://archive.org/details/BIUSante_47357/page/n9/mode/2up)

The transliteration is from GRETIL (https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/6_sastra/7_ayur/caraka_u.htm)

The grammatical exposition is my own. I welcome corrections and comments.

Please note that verse numbers vary in different editions, but the text is the same.

  

अथातो दीर्घंजीवितीयम् अध्यायं व्याख्यास्यामः ॥ C१,१.१

इति ह स्माह भगवानात्रेयः ॥ C१,१.२

So then we will explain the lesson about Longevity. Even this was said by the illustrious son of Atri.

athāto dīrghaṃjīvitīyam adhyāyaṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ // Car_1,1.1

iti ha smāha bhagavānātreyaḥ // Car_1,1.2

atha – now (indeclinable)

ataḥ - therefore, from this (indeclinable)

dīrgham – long (adjective, accusative masculine, singular)

jīvitīyam  - concerning life/as it should be lived (adjective, accusative, masculine, singular)

adhyāyam – chapter (noun, masculine, accusative, singular)

vyākhyāsyāmaḥ - we (will) tell (verb vi+ā√khyā, Class 2, parasmai pada, 1^st person, plural, future tense)

iti – thus, in this manner (indeclinable)

ha – indeed, assuredly (indeclinable, emphasizing particle)

sma – surely, indeed (indeclinable)

āha – he/she/it said (3^rd person singular of√ah)

bhagavān – glorious, saint, divine, venerable (adjective, masculine, nominative, singular, bhagavat)

atreyaḥ - descendant of Atri (patronym, masculine, nominative, singular)

 

दीर्घं जीवितमन्विच्छन्भरद्वाज उपागमत् ।

इन्द्रमुग्रतपा बुद्ध्वा शरण्यममरेश्वरम् ॥ C१,१.३

Desirous of long life, Bharadwaja of austere penances repaired to the supreme deity Indra, regarding him worthy of court.

dīrghaṃ jīvitamanvicchanbharadvāja upāgamat /
indramugratapā buddhvā śaraṇyamamareśvaram // Car_1,1.3

dīrghaṃ - long (adjective, neuter, accusative, singular)

 jīvitam – duration of life (noun, neuter, accusative, singular)

anvicchan – desiring (present participle, anu+ √iṣ, nominative, masculine, singular)

bharadvājaḥ – Bharadvāja (proper noun, masculine, nominative, singular)

upāgamat – went, approached (3^rd person singular, aorist, upa√gam Class 1 parasmai pada)

indram – Indra (proper noun, masculine, accusative, singular)

ugratapā – he whose tapas is formidable, austere (bahuvrihi compound, adjective for Bharadvāja, masculine, nominative, singular)

buddhvā – knowing, considering (gerund, indeclinable from √budh, 1PP)

śaraṇyam – yielding help (noun/adjective, masculine, accusative, singular – for Indra)

amareśvaram – Lord of the immortals (6^th case tatpuruṣa, describing Indra)