Kapila Muni is the brother and teacher of Anusuya, also known as “Sati Anasuya” the chaste wife and the mother of Dattatreya. He is considered to be a descendant of Manu, the primal human being, and a grandson of Lord Brahma.
According to the Vedic social system, a man with a grown son may accept the order of sannyasa, thus renouncing all connections with his family and worldly life, and entrust his wife to the care of his son. With this in mind, Kardam Muni took a vow of silence and went to live in the forest as an ascetic, entrusting Devahuti in his son’s care. Kapila instructed his mother Devahuti in the philosophy of yoga and worship of Lord Vishnu, enabling her to achieve self-realization and attain moksha (liberation) from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Its philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two eternal realities: purusha and prakrti. It is therefore a strongly dualist and enumerationist philosophy, characterized by a worldview that sees the universe as an evolving mixture of distinct dualities (light/dark, male/female, etc).
Samkhyan doctrine of the relationship between Purusha and Prakriti has been closely associated with the Yoga school of philosophy. Metaphysically, Samkhya maintains a radical duality between spirit/consciousness (Purusha) and matter (Prakrti). All physical events are considered to be manifestations of the evolution of Prakrti, or primal nature (from which all physical bodies are derived). Each sentient being is a Purusha, and is limitless and unrestricted to its body. Bondage arises when the Purusha is misled as to its own identity and confuses itself with the physical body. The spirit is liberated with the realization that it is distinct from and not restricted to physical matter.
The evolution of primal nature is also considered to be purposeful - Prakrti evolves for the spirit in bondage. The spirit itself is only a witness to the evolution. The evolution obeys cause-and-effect relationships, with primal nature itself being the material cause of all physical creation. The cause and effect theory of Samkhya is called Satkaarya-vaada, and holds that nothing can really be created from or destroyed into nothingness - all evolution is simply the transformation of primal nature from one form to another.
The purushas (souls) are many, conscious and devoid of all qualities. They are the silent spectators of prakrti (matter or nature), which is composed of three gunas (dispositions): satva, rajas and tamas (steadiness, activity and dullness). When the equilibrium of the gunas is disturbed, the world order evolves. This disturbance is due to the samyoga or effective contact between the purusha and prakrti.
The very purpose of evolution of the prakrti into the world is to give the purusha a chance for liberation. But it is the same prakrti and its evolution, the world that binds purusha once more. The main cause of the bondage of purusha and the resultant suffering in the world is ignorance - nondiscrimination between himself (as pure consciousness or sentient) and prakrti (the unconscious or insentient entity).
The evolution ceases when the purusha or spirit realises that it is distinct from primal nature or prakrti. When such viveka dawns purusha, the sentient, pure conscious entity separates himself from the prakrti, the insentient matter. This destroys the purpose of evolution, thus stopping Prakrti from evolving for Purusha.
Liberation (kaivalya), then, consists of the realisation of the difference between the purusha and the prakrti which can be achieved by following the Eight steps of Yoga (ashtanga yoga) wherein the purusha or the Soul is the object of meditation.
त्रिगुणसाम्यावस्था प्रकृतिः। Nature (prakriti) is the state of equipoise of sattva, rajas and tamas.
From Nature [proceeds] Mind (mahat); from Mind, Self-consciousness (ahamkara); from Self-consciousness, the five Subtle Elements (tanmatra), and both sets [external and internal] of Organs (indriya); and, from the Subtle Elements, the Gross Elements (sthula-bhuta). [Then there is] Soul (purusha). Such is the class of twenty-five.
25. Purusha – the sentient being (consciousness), the experiencer
24. Prakriti – primal nature (root of all insentient matter)
Antahkaranas – internal organs
23. Mahat-Buddhi – intelligence
22. Ahamkara – objective ego
21. Manas – mind
Jnanendriyas – organs of knowledge
20. Stotra – organ of hearing (ears)
19. Tvak – organ of touching (skin)
18. Chakshu – organ of seeing (eyes)
17. Rasana – organ of tasting (palette)
16. Ghrana – organ of smelling (nose)
Karmendriyas – organs of action
15. Vak – organ of speech (tongue)
14. Pani – organ of grasping (hands)
13. Pada – organ of movement (feet)
12. Payu – organ of excretion (anus)
11. Upastha – organ of sex
Tanmatras – subtle elements
10. Shabda – sound
9. Sparsha – feel
8. Rupa – form
7. Rasa – taste
6. Gandha - smell
Mahabhutas – gross elements
5. Akasha – space
4. Vayu – air
3. Tejas – fire
2. Ap – water
1. Prithivi - earth
Devahuti, the mother of Muni Kapila and the wife of Kardama Muni, became freed from all ignorance concerning devotional service and transcendental knowledge. She offered her obeisances to the Lord, the author of the basic principles in the sankhya system of philosophy and she satisfied him with verses of prayer.
According to the oldest available Samkhya work, Isvarakrsna’s Samkhya-karika (“Verses on Samkhya,” c. second century AD) Kapila taught his principles to Asuri, who taught them to Pañcasikha, the Gandharva.
Sankhya deals with the elemental categories or principles of the physical universe, Sankhya is what Western scholars generally refer to as “metaphysics.” The term sankhya literally means “to count.” This name is used because Sankhya philosophy enumerates principles of cosmic evolution by rational analysis. The etymological meaning of the word sankhya is “that which explains very lucidly by analysis of material elements.”
Philosophically, this term is used because the Sankhya system expounds analytical knowledge that enables one to distinguish between matter and spirit. This understanding culminates in bhakti, devotion for and service to the Supreme. It may be said, therefore, that Sankhya and bhakti form two aspects of the same process, bhakti being the ultimate goal or ultimate aspect of Sankhya.
In the Padma Purana (Srsti-khanda 11.5) it is stated : "Ganga-sagara is said to be an auspicious holy place composed of all sacred places."
And in the Varaha Purana (179.30) : "There is Sita-tirtha, which is sacred to the Vaisnavas on Dvadasi in the month of Margasirsa. In the Puranas this place is known as Ganga-sagara."
In the Mahabharata (3.107), Kapila is a major figure associated with the descent of Goddess Ganga as a river from heaven.
King Sagar of Ayodhya, an ancestor of Rama, had performed the Aswamedha sacrifice ninety-nine times. On the hundredth time, Indra, the king of Devas became jealous and kidnapped the horse, hiding it in the hermitage of Kapila.
The 60,000 sons of Sagara found the white horse tied beside the meditating Kapila. The enraged princes condemned Kapila as a thief and attacked him. When the sage opened his eyes in anger, his immense power turned the princes into ashes. Anshuman, one of the grandsons of King Sagara, begged the Sage to redeem the souls of all those he had turned to ashes. Kapila replied that they could only be redeemed if Goddess Ganges descended from heaven and touched their ashes.
Bringing Ganga River to Earth was a near impossible task which could not be completed by successive generations. As a result, the negative impact of the dead princes multiplied in their destructive energy and the kingdom began to lose its peace and prosperity. Unable to bear the suffering of his people, King Bhagirath, a descendant of King Sagara, turned over the kingdom to his trusted ministers to perform harsh penance. He finally succeeded in bringing Ganga River down and redeemed the souls of his ancestors.
Makara Sankranti (Sun enters Capricorn) and the Ganga Sagara Mela in West Bengal, where the River Ganga enters the Bay of Bengal. It is here where Ganga (after a 2,500 km./1,565 m journey) begins her voyage to the lower planetary systems (subterranean heavens) where she is known as Bhogavati. Just as she reaches the Bay, her width expands over twenty kilometres, reflecting her glorious disappearance from this planet. This is the place where Kapila Muni, the great propounder of the sankhya philosophy, lived and performed his austerities after instructing his mother, Devahuti, on the path of devotional service. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3rd Chapters: 25 - 33)
Kapila Muni Ashram and Ganga-sagara Mela
Authored by Dr Anadi Sahoo
