MAHRSHI

[Sivan Krishnan]

VEDHIC  MAHARSHIS  -  NANGANALLUR  J.K. SIVAN 

MAHARISHI KAPILA

Maharishi Kapila, a well known  Vedic Rishi, is the  celebrated  founder of the Samkhya school of philosophy—India's oldest rational system. Kapila maharshi was born to Sage Kardama and Devahuthi , and is venerated in Puranic texts as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is best known for teaching the path of spiritual liberation and self-realization to his mother Devahuthi.

Maharshi Kapila  कपिल  is  also referred to as Cakradhanus,in some vedhic scriptures. 

Maharshi Kapila' s influence on Buddha and Buddhism has long been the subject of scholarly studies. There have been some  accusations by orthodox Buddhists that Sarvastivadins are heavily influenced by Samkhya school of philosophy introduced by maharshi Kapila.

According to the Brahmanda Purana, Kapila is described as an incarnation of Vishnu: "Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa will protect us all. The Lord of the universe has now been born in the world as Kapilācārya."

Many historic personalities in Hinduism and Jainism, mythical figures, pilgrimage sites in Indian religion, as well as an ancient variety of cow, are named after Kapila, or share his name, which is popular.

Statue of Kapila Maharshi is at  Nashik Memorial of sage Kapila,  at the entrance gate of the Uchchaith Bhagawati Mandir complex near Benipatti town in the Mithila region of Bihar.

The name Kapila appears in many texts, and likely refers to different people with the same name, as many other  popular names appear similar in scripts.

The most famous reference is to the sage Kapila with his student Āsuri, who in the Indian tradition are considered the first masters of Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. While he pre-dates Buddha, it is unclear which century he lived in, with some suggesting 6th century BCE.  Others place him in the 7th century BCE  which means, that Kapila maharshi lived in the late Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE), and he has been recognized as a Maharishi of   Vedic age.

Kapila has authored Samkhya-sutra (also called Kapila-sutra), which aphoristically presents the dualistic philosophy of Samkhya. These sutras were explained in another well studied text of Hinduism called the Samkhyakarika.  Beyond his Samkhya philosophy, Maharshi Kapila, also,

 appears in many dialogues of Hindu texts, such as in explaining and defending the principle of ahimsa (non-violence) in the Mahabharata.

Kapila is known to be  the tenth child of the sage Kardama and Devahūti. Kardama has been assured by Mahavishnu, that  HE  would  be born as Kardhama rishi's son. After attaining this, Kardama wished to leave for the forest for penance and research and Vedic study. Kardama had nine daughters who were very learned and went ahead to marry great sages mentioned in ancient Indian history.

The Rigveda 27.16 mentions Kapila (daśānām ekam kapilam) which the 14th-century Vedic commentator Sayana thought refers to a sage; 

The Śata-piṭaka Series on the Śākhās of the Yajurveda – estimated to have been composed between 1200 and 1000 BCE[21] – mention of a Kapila Śākhā situated in the Āryāvarta, which implies a Yajurveda school is named after Kapila.The term Kapileya, meaning "clans of Kapila", occurs in the Aitareya Brahmana VII.17 but provides no information on the original Kapila.

The pariśiṣṭa (addenda) of the Atharvaveda (at XI.III.3.4)  mentions Kapila, Āsuri and Pañcaśikha in connection with a libation ritual for whom tarpana is to be offered.

 In verse 5.2 of Shvetashvatara Upanishad,  both the terms Samkhya and Kapila appear, with Kapila meaning colour as well as a "seer" (Rishi) with the phrase "ṛṣiṃ prasūtaṃ kapilam ... tam agre.." which when compared to other verses of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad Kapila likely construes to Rudra and Hiranyagarbha..

Kapila maharshi is reported to have lived long before the period of Ramayana and Mahabhratha, and  the Puranas, and his name is coopted in various later composed mythologies.

As an ascetic and as sleeping Vishnu: In the Brahma Purana, when the evil king Vena abandoned the Vedas, declared that he is the only creator of dharma, and broke all limits of righteousness. It is also believed that Kapila is the 5th incarnation of lord vishnu who was born in a village Mahangupur near the banks of river Saryu in Gonda district of Uttarpradesh., Kapila advises hermits to churn Vena's thigh from which emerged Nishadas, and his right hand from which Prthu originated who made earth productive again. Kapila and hermits then went to Kapilasangama, a holy place where rivers meet.

The Brahma Purana also mentions Kapila in the context of Sagara's 60,000 sons who looking for their Ashvamedha horse, disturbed Vishnu who is sleeping in the shape of Kapila. He woke up, the brilliance in his eyes burnt all but four of Sagara's sons to ashes, leaving few survivors carrying on the family lineage. Sagara's son is King Dilipa and his grandson is Bhagiratha. On the advice of his guru Trithala, Bhagiratha did penance for a thousand years (according to god timeline) to please Ganga, to gain the release his 60,000 great-uncles from the curse of saint Kapila.

 The Narada Purana enumerates two Kapilas, one as the incarnation of Brahma and another as the incarnation of Vishnu. The Puranas Bhagavata, Brahmanda, Vishnu, Padma, Skanda, Narada Purana; and the Valmiki Ramayana mentions Kapila is an incarnation of Vishnu. 

The Padma Purana and Skanda Purana conclusively call him Vishnu himself who descended on earth to disseminate true knowledge. Bhagavata Purana calls him Vedagarbha Vishnu. The Vishnusahasranama mentions Kapila as a name of Vishnu. In his commentary on the Samkhyasutra, Vijnanabhikshu mentions Kapila, the founder of Samkhya system, is Vishnu.  

The Book 3 of the Bhagavata Purana  states Kapila is the son of Kardama Prajapati and his wife Devahuti. Kardama is born from Chaya, the reflection of Brahma. Brahma asks Kardama to procreate upon which Kardama goes to the banks of Sarasvati river, practices penance, visualizes Vishnu and is told by Vishnu that Manu, the son of Brahma will arrive there with his wife Shatarupa in search of a groom for their daughter Devahuti. Vishnu advises Kardama to marry Devahuti, and blesses Kardama that HE Himself will be born as his son. kardama rishi's nine daughters are named  in scriptures as  Kala, Anusuya, Sraddha, Havirbhu, Gati, Kriya, Khyati, Arundhati and Shanti who were married to Marici, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vashistha, and Atharvan respectively. 

 Kapila maharshi presents to his mother Devahuti, the philosophy of yoga and theistic dualism. Kapila's Samkhya is also described through Krishna to Uddhava in Book 11 of the Bhagavata Purana, a passage also known as the "Uddhava Gita".

Puranas  say  differently quoting  different periods, and this embaaraasses and creates confusion.  For example,  the  Matsya Purana mentions Kapila as the son of Kashyapa from his wife Danu, daughter of Daksha Prajapati. Kapila is one among Danu's 100 sons, and her other sons (Kapila's brothers) mentioned in the Vishnu Purana include Dvimurddha, Shankara, Ayomukha, Shankhushiras, Samvara, Ekachakra, Taraka, Vrishaparvan, Svarbhanu, Puloman, Viprachitti and other Danavas..

Brahma Purana  and  the Harivamsa say  Kapila is the son of Vitatha.  Vishnu Purana notes Bhavanmanyu is the son of Vitatha but Brahma Purana and Harivamsa omit this and make Suhotra, Anuhotra, Gaya, Garga, and Kapila the sons of Vitatha.[34] The Brahma Purana differs from other puranas in saying Vitatha is the son of Bharadwaja; and upon the death of Bharata, Bharadwaja installed Vitatha as the king, before leaving for the forest.

The Baudhayana Dharmasutra mentions  Kapila is the son of Prahlada in the chapter laying rules for the Vaikhanasas. May be this is an asura by same name. section IV.16 of Baudhāyana Gṛhyasūtra mentions Kapila as the one who set up rules for ascetic life. Kapila is credited, in the Baudhayana Dharmasutra, with creating the four Ashrama orders: Brahmachārya, Grihastha, Vānaprastha and Sanyāsa, and suggesting that renouncer should never injure any living being in word, thought or deed. He is said to have made rules for renouncement of the sacrifices and rituals in the Vedas, and an ascetic's attachment instead to the Brahman / ब्रह्मन् (not to be confused with Brāhmin).

GITA  sloka declares : ''aśvatthāḥ sarvavṛkṣāṇāṃ devarṣīṇāṃ ca nāradaḥ | gandharvāṇāṃ citrarathaḥ siddhānāṃ kapilo muniḥ ||

"Of all trees I am the banyan tree, and among the sages of the demigods I am Narada. Of the Gandharvas I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila."

The Kapila-Devahuti Samvada, detailed in the Third Canto of the Bhagavat Purana, serves as a foundational dialogue for the theological presentation of Samkhya philosophy. Shri Krishna also mentioned this concept briefly to Arjun amidst their conversation during the Mahabharata war, which has been mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, called Samkhya Yog.

The narrative begins with Devahuti approaching her son Kapila, identified as the Supreme Lord, and expressing distress over a life spent in sense enjoyment, which she regards as wasted. She seeks fearlessness and liberation from suffering.[50] She attributes her condition to bodily identification, articulated as aham mama iti ("I and mine"), and asks Kapila to remove her attachment to the physical body and its sense of ownership.[51] Kapila responds by teaching Samkhya, described as a system of discriminative knowledge. By analyzing the constituents of material reality (tattvas), he distinguishes matter (prakriti) from spirit (purusa).

As Buddhist art often depicts Vedic deities, one can find art of both Narayana and Kapila as kings within a Buddhist temple, along with statues of Buddhist figures such as Amitabha, Maitreya, and Vairocana.
Manvadi Shrāddha - mentioned by Rudradeva in Pakayajna Prakasa.
Dṛṣṭantara Yoga - also named Siddhāntasāra available at Madras Oriental Manuscripts Library.
Kapilanyayabhasa - mentioned by Alberuni in his works.
Kapila Purana - referred to by Sutasamhita and Kavindracharya. Available at Sarasvati Bhavana Library, Varanasi.
Kapila Samhita - there are 2 works by the same name.  One is the samhita quoted in the Bhagavatatatparyanirnaya and by Viramitrodaya in Samskaras. Another is the Samhita detailing pilgrim centers of Orissa.
Kapilasutra - Two books, namely the Samkya Pravacana Sutra and the Tattvasamasasutra, are jointly known as Kapilasutra. Bhaskararaya refers to them in his work Saubhagya-bhaskara.
Kapila Stotra - Chapters 25 to 33 of the third khanda of the Bhagavata Mahapurana are called Kapila Stotra.
Kapila Smriti - Available in the work Smriti-Sandarbha, a collection of Smritis, from Gurumandal Publications.
Kapila Gita - also known as Dṛṣṭantasara or Siddhāntasāra.
Kapila Pancharatra - also known as Maha Kapila Pancharatra. Quoted by Raghunandana in Saṃskāra Mayukha.
Vagbhatta mentions Kapila's views in Sutrasthana.
Nischalakara mentions Kapila's views in his commentary on Chikitsa Sangraha.
Kapila's views are quoted in Ayurvedadipika.

Gaudapada,  an Advaita Vedanta scholar, in his Bhasya called Kapila as one of the seven great sages along with Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana, Asuri, Vodhu and Pancasikha.[58] Patanjali, the Yoga scholar, in his Yogasutra-bhasya wrote Kapila to be the "primal wise man, or knower"

The Buddhist sources mention that the city of Kapilavastu is built in the honor of Maharishi  Kapila. It is in Kapilavastu that the Buddha is born; and, it is here he spent the first twenty-nine years . Bhagavata Purana  mentions  Kapila is the son of maharshi Kardama Prajapati and Devahuti, who was the granddaughter of Svayambhuva Manu.  He is the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, manifesting to restore spiritual balance. He is the brother of Anasuya (wife of Sage Atri) and teacher to the sages Asuri and Panchashikha. 

Kapila's intense yogic power (tapas) is famously highlighted in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. When the 60,000 sons of King Sagara disturbed his deep meditation while searching for their sacrificial horse, his fiery glance reduced them to ashes.  To liberate the souls of Sagara's sons, King Bhagiratha performed severe penance to bring the River Ganga from the heavens down to earth. 

Swami Vivekananda On Kapila Muni -   The other conclusion of Kapila is that there is no God as the Creator of the universe.  He was the celebrated sage who is regarded as the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Bhagavata, 1/3; 3/24). He is compared to Lord Krishna in Bhagavata (10/26). He was the brother-in-law of sage Vashistha, being the brother of his wife Arundhati, and the  only son of sage Kardama and his wife Devahuti. He taught even his mother spiritual  wisdom in Bhagavata, and hence this part of this scripture is called ‘Kapil Gita’ in which

the sage has expounded upon the philosophies of Sankhya Shastra, Ashtanga Yoga (the eight-fold path of Yoga) and Bhakti-yoga (the path of devotion for and submission to the Lord)  Sage Kapil is however renowned for one of the six schools of Indian philosophies
known as Sankhya Shastra.