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Kapila redirects here. For other uses, see Kapila (disambiguation).

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Maharishi Kapila is a Vedic sage traditionally considered to be the original proponent of the Samkhya system of philosophy but there are no known writings by him that deal with the Samkhya system as it is understood today. He is described as an incarnation of Vishnu within the Puranas, famous for teaching a process of liberation known as bhakti yoga.

Very little historical data is known for sure regarding Maharishi Kapila's life. He is said to have lived in the Indian subcontinent, some say around 500 BC, other accounts give much earlier dates. He is mentioned by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as the greatest of all perfected beings:

Of all trees I am the banyan tree, and of the sages among the demigods I am Narada. Of the Gandharvas I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila. (Bhagavad Gita 10.26)

His parents are given in the Bhagavata Purana as Kardama Muni and Devahuti. After his father left home, Kapila instructed his mother Devahuti in the philosophy of yoga and worship of Lord Vishnu, enabling her to achieve both liberation (moksha), and pure love of God.

Kapiladev's teachings are quoted extensively within the Srimad Bhagavatam especially:

• "My appearance in this world is especially to explain the philosophy of Sankhya, which is highly esteemed for self-realization by those desiring freedom from the entanglement of unnecessary material desires. This path of self-realization, which is difficult to understand, has now been lost in the course of time. Please know that I have assumed this body of Kapila to introduce and explain this philosophy to human society again." (3.24.36-37)

• "When one is completely cleansed of the impurities of lust and greed produced from the false identification of the body as "I" and bodily possessions as "mine," one's mind becomes purified. In that pure state he transcends the stage of so-called material happiness and distress."(3.25.16)

• "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul, and He has no beginning. He is transcendental to the material modes of nature and beyond the existence of this material world. He is perceivable everywhere because He is self-effulgent, and by His self-effulgent luster the entire creation is maintained." (3.26.3)

• "The glory of the Lord is always worth singing, for His glories enhance the glories of His devotees. One should therefore meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead and upon His devotees. One should meditate on the eternal form of the Lord until the mind becomes fixed." (3.28.18)

Maharshi Kapila is a major figure in the story associated with the Hindu holiday of Makar Sankranti, about bringing down Ganga Ganges River from heaven, which involves King Sagar of Ayodhya, an ancestor of Rama. King Sagara had performed the Aswamedha sacrifice ninety-nine times. Each time a horse was sent around the earth Indra the King of the Heaven grew jealous and kidnapped the horse, hiding it in the hermitage of Kapila Muni during the hundredth sacrifice.

The 60 000 sons of Sagara found the horse, and believing Kapila to be the abductor assaulted him. Kapila turned the assailants to ashes. Anshuman, a grandson of King Sagara (Son of Asamanjas the Wicked son of King Sagara), came to Kapila begging him to redeem the souls of the 60 000. Kapila replied that only if the Ganges descended from heaven and touched the ashes of the 60 000 would they be redeemed.

• Narada
• Vyasadeva
• Bhakti Yoga
• Samkhya
• Kapila Theertham

An Introduction to Hinduism, Gavin Flood, p. 232. Cambridge University Press, 1996. (Dates for proto-Samkhya, Karika Samkhya.)

• The Sánkhya Aphorisms of Kapila, 1885 translation by James R. Ballantyne, edited by Fitzedward Hall.
• Kapila's Instructions on Devotional Service from the Bhagavata Purana
• The Teachings of Lord Kapila