Atreya was a revered Ayurvedic physician and teacher who lived during the 8th century BC. He was a disciple of Bharadwaja and his real name was Punarvasu. Atreya is a
Sanskrit name literally meaning the 'son of Atri'.
The beginning of the Ayurvedic medicine is attributed to him. His famous work is the Atreya Samhita, containing 46,500 verses. He classified diseases into curable and incurable, and patients into whom physicians must attend and whom they must refuse assistance. Atreya described the influence of winds, soil and seasons on age and temper. He enumerated the tastes such as sweet, astringent, bitter, sour, salty and pungent, and the influence of each on the human body. The medical influence of various liquids including hot and cold water was described by him. Along with antidotes he described about the causes and treatments of various diseases such as fevers, diarrheas, dysentery, consumption and hemorrhage.
[Source all india (80) 05-Apr-05]
