Kapila, or Kapilacharya, or Cakradhanus, a vedic sage, is the son of Kardama Prajapati and Devahuti, according to the Bhagavata Purana. Kardama also had nine daughters, who were taught equally, as was Kapila, and they married Marici and other rishis. Believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu, Kapila came to be the most accomplished. He is also thought to be the preceptor of the King of Sindhu, in his times.
The ancient legend of Kapila Muni and the sons of Sagara, the King of Ayodhya, may refer to a different sage from the author of the Sankhya philosophy. The latter was known as the founder of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. His student, Asuri, is also considered to be one of the first Master of Samkhya philosophy. He is thought to have lived in the 6th or 7th century BCE. Kapila is recognised as a sage of the late Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE). It is supposed that he had an impact on contemporary and later schools of knowledge as discerned by Gautama Buddha. There are several references in the puranas to speak for and against the possibility. Let the learned and the researcher in ancient knowledge systems determine the aspect.
It is proposed that Kapila Mahamuni, the rishi related to the descent of Ganga, lived long before the composition of the Ramayana and the Puranas. However, his name has been included in various later composed writings, perhaps alluding to a longer presence, much like Brahmarshis Vashishta and Vishwamitra. There is a theory that it is the Bhagavatha Purana that adds Devahuti as the third daughter of Manu and Shatarupa, to thus introduce the legend of Kardama Prajapati and thereby, of their son, Kapila Mahamuni. Similarly, there is another theory that Kapila Mahamuni is described as an incarnation of Vishnu, in order to strengthen the respect for the Purana and thereafter, with the appellation to the latter Kapila Mahamuni and to the Samkhya philosophy.
There is mention of two Kapila munis in the Narada Purana. One is the incarnation of Brahma while the other is the incarnation of Vishnu. The Bhagavata, Brahmanda, Vishnu, Padma, Skanda and Narada Puranas and the Valmiki Ramayana consider Kapila as an incarnation of Vishnu, while the Padma and Skanda Purana term Kapila as Vishnu himself, who came upon earth to share his knowledge. He is called ‘Vedagarbha Vishnu’ in the Bhagavata Purana. The 1000 names of Vishnu, the VishnuSahasraNama, includes Kapila as one of the names of Vishnu. A modern researcher presents Kapila Mahamuni, he of the Veda, Sramana tradition and of the Mahabharata, as the same Kapila, the founder of Samkhya philosophy. Of course, Kapila’s Samkhya philosophy is also described by Krishna to Uddhava in the Book 11 of the Bhagavata Purana, with a passage also known as the ‘Uddhava Gita’.
Devahuti is the daughter of Svayambhuva Manu, who had two sons, Priyavrata and Uttanapada, and three daughters, Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti. Akuti was wed to Ruci, Devahuti to Kardama and Prasuti to Daksa Prajapati. Akuti and Ruci had a boy named Yajna, who was considered as a partial incarnation of Vishnu. Prasuti had several daughters in her marriage with Daksa.
There is a legend about Kapila Muni’s birth. Kardama Prajapati, his father, is supposed to have been born from Chaya, the reflection of Brahma. Thus, Brahma asks Kardama to ensure that he has progeny. Kardama goes to the banks of the Saraswati river and practises strict penance. Vishnu appears and blesses him, saying that Manu will soon arrive with his wife, Shatarupa, in search of a groom for his daughter, Devahuti, and assures him that Vishnu himself would be born of that marriage.
Kardama Prajapati and Devahuti had nine daughters, namely Kala, Anusuya, Sraddha, Havirbhu, Gati, Kriya, Khyati, Arundhati and Shanti. They were married to the rishis, Marici, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vashishta and Atharvan respectively.
Kapila began a severe penance during the lifetime of his father. Later, as Karadama Prajapati died, Kapila Muni’s mother, Devahuti, approached her son and asked to be instructed on the path of Bhakti Yoga. Kapila Muni imparted spiritual knowledge of Kapilasastra, the philosophy of yoga and about theistic dualism, to his mother along with instructions to follow the path. Subsequently, Devahuti established severe austerities for herself and attained samadhi. The 8th Skandha of Devi Bhagavatha mentions that, later, Kapila Mahamuni journeyed to the Asrama of Pulaha and lived there.
Later, Kapila is known from the conflict with the 60,001 sons of the King Sagara of Ayodhya. The Sagaraputras, as they were known collectively, disturbed Kapila at his penance, deep within Patala, the netherworld. There is an earlier mention about the reason for Kapila Mahamuni’s presence during the rule of Sagara. While the King’s 60,001 sons dug up the continent of Jambudvipa in search of the sacrificial horse, the devas, gandharvas and bhujangas complained to Brahma who assured them that Vishnu had incarnated as Kapila Mahamuni and would kill the Sagaraputras. And as foretold, they saw Sage Kapila in deep penance with the sacrificial horse grazing peacefully, nearby. The sage glared in anger at being disturbed and the intruders were reduced to ashes.
In an earlier retelling, the King Vena abandoned the Vedas and declared that he was the actual creator of Dharma, as he understood it, and governed against the accepted knowledge of righteousness and was killed. It is said that Kapila Mahamuni advised the sages to churn Vena’s thigh, and thereby emerged the Nishadas. From the right hand of Vena, it was Prthu who came forth and made earth productive once again.
The Matsya Purana presents Kapila as the son of Kashyapa from his wife, Danu, daughter of Daksha Prajapati. Danu had 100 sons, including Kapila. Some of his brothers include Dvimurddha, Shankara, Ayomukha, Shankhushiras, Samvara, Ekachakra, Taraka, Vrishaparvan, Svarbhanu, Puloman, Viprachitti and the other Danavas.
The Brahma Purana and the Harivamsa has Kapila as the son of Vitatha or Bharadwaja and that he is given in adoption to Bharata. Perhaps, these various references are about different individuals but it is not distinctly separate. The Vishnu Purana mentions Bhavanmanyu as the son of Vitatha. The Brahma Purana and the Harivamsa also include Sohotra, Anuhotra, Gaya, Garga and Kapila as the sons of Vitatha. There is another version that mentions Vitatha is the son of Bharadwaja and that upon the death of Bharata, it is Bharadwaja who instals Vitatha as the King.
The latter Dharmasutras and other texts, including the Baudhayana Grhyasutra or Dharmasutra mentions Kapila as the son of the asura Prahlada, while laying rules for the Vaikhanasas. The Vaikhanasa or Vaikhanasagama, as propounded by Sage Vikhanasa, is a tradition of Vishnu worship as the supreme God, from the school of the Krishna Yajurveda Taittiriya Shakha and the Vaikhanasa Kalpasutra. The Sutra mentions Kapila as the one who established the rules for ascetic monks in those times, while creating the ashrama orders of brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha and sanyasa. In some texts of the Mahabharata, Kapila Mahamuni is the rishi who argues against sacrifices and for an end to cruelty to animals.
Kapila Mahamuni is described as one with a beard, in padmasana, with closed eyes in dhyana, with a jata-mandala necklace around the head, in deer skin, yagnopavita and a kamandalu with him. This representation is also thought to be that of Kapila, the founder of the Sankhya philosophy. There is also mention in the Jnatadharmakatha, that Kapila is a contemporary of Krishna and considered to be the Vasudeva of Dhatakikhanda.
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