History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.13

v7.c94.13

Vācaspatimiśra in his commentary on the Yogasūtrabhāṣya (II. 23) sets out eight alternative views among Sāṅkhya writers on the question of ‘darśana’ and ‘adarśana’ and remarks that the fourth out of the eight alternatives is the real doctrine of the Sāṅkhyaśāstra²²¹³ From about the 5th century A D. the Sāṅkhyakārikā has been regarded as the standard work on the Sāṅkhya system. The S. Kārikā itself states that the holy śāstra was expounded by Kapilamuni to Āsuri, who expounded²²¹⁴ it to Pañcaśikha and the latter expounded the (Sāṅkhya) system to several disciples and that it came down to Īśvarakṛṣṇa in a succession of teachers and disciples, who summarised it in Āryā verses. Kapila-muni is here said to be the first promulgator of the Sāṅkhya.