Atreya

Atreya, also called Atreya Punarvasu or Atreya Rishi, was an ancient Indian sage and physician traditionally dated to the 6th century BCE and described as a descendant of the sage Atri. He was a renowned scholar of Ayurveda around whom an early school of Ayurvedic medicine formed, and is said to have served as personal physician to the Gandhara king Nagnajita. A Buddhist text, the Mulasarvastivada-Vinayavastu, describes him as the teacher of Jivaka, the Buddha's own physician, at Takshashila. His teachings underlie the oldest sections of the Bhela Samhita and Charaka Samhita, foundational texts of Ayurvedic medicine, and he is credited with founding six schools of medicine through disciples including Agnivesha, Bhela, Jatukarna, Parashara, Harita and Ksharapani.