History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.22

v7.c94.22

It is difficult to assign a definite date to the Sāṅkhya-kārikā. As Paramārtha translated the Kārikā as well as commentary on it into Chinese in about 546 A. D. the Kārikā cannot in any case be placed later than about 250-300 A. D. It may be earlier by a few centuries. Umbeka in his commentary on the Ślokavārtika of Kumārila mentions an author called Mādhava as ‘Sāṅkhyanāyaka’ and Yuan Chwang also refers to a Sāṅkhya teacher called Mādhava. Dr. Raghavan in ‘Sarūpa-Bhāratī’ (pp 162-164) shows that Mādhava was really a destructive critic of Sāṅkhya, that the proper reading is ‘Sāṅkhyanāśaka-Mādhava’ and that he was probably earlier than even Dinnāga and Dharmakīrti (i. e. earlier than 500 A. D.).