kapilaH

The genesis of the kapila figure has a complex history to it & is associated with 3 distinct elements:

• 1. His early (probably very 1st mention in the shruti) is in the shaiva upaniShat shvetAshvatara -1 of the late upaniShat-s associated with the yajurveda : sAMkhya as “vedAnta” and a note on evolution of shaiva yoga. This memory continues down to the much later shaiva texts as noted in the article linked above.
• 2. By the time of the rAmAyaNa we hear of a ferocious v1 dwelling in pAtAla who incinerated the 60000 sons of sagara. This kapila in the pAncharAtrika mantra tradition is identified with the fierce backward or 4th face of viShNu-chaturAtman, the 3 other faces being the regular viShNu or saumya face, nR^isiMha & varAha. That face can be seen in this Kashmirian image . By the time of the mahAbharata this kapila who burnt the sAgara-s is identified with viShNu & explicitly stated as his incarnation. Iconographic terms the 4th face takes the place of the nandin in equivalent tetracephalic shaiva imagery. It is attested in early pAncharAtrika mantra, the viShNumAya.
• 3. Then we have kapila the founder of sAMkhya.

Several vaiShNava traditions tend to identify #2 and #3 and shaiva traditions identify #1 and #3 being not too interested in #2. Can we decouple history from mythology here? For that we have to consider the early history of yoga-sAMkhya. It seems to have begun as an ancient tradition that right from early on had both seshvara and nirIshvara flavors. It is possible that the figure seen in #1 & #3 was 1 of the early teachers or even the founder. What we do not know for sure was whether he was nirIshvara himself. We suspect that he was not insistent on the Ishvara-tattva. However, his philosophy was continued by those with early shaiva or vaiShNava inclinations who gave it an seshvara color & projected that onto kapila.

The philosophy was also continued by a spectrum of traditions that ranged from “pAtanjala” to “philosophical sAMkya” where the Ishvara was either just a tattva to accommodate the primal cause or entirely done away with as superfluous. In this tradition too, the old kapila was remembered as an early or foundational teacher.

Now we posit that the fierce kapila emerged as a distinct entity as part of the mysterious sagara cycle. We believe there is hidden meaning in the language of myth surrounding the following motifs:

• 1. 60000 cousins of garuDa;
• 2. ashvamedha of sagara;
• 3. the digging of the earth;
• 4. their destruction by kapila;
• 4. the ga~NgA cycle

that no one to date has still cracked. The “mythic” kapila who dwells in pAtAla arose as part of that – was there hidden sAMkhya teaching in that – we don’t know. However, in vaiShNava tradition, with its foundational saMkhya affiliation, identification of the 2 was a natural progression.