History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.23.3

v7.c94.23.3

(IV 8) speaks of the five elements and their mātrās (pṛthivī ca pṛthivīmātrā ca &c), the ten *indriyas* and their objects, manas, buddhi, ahaṅkāra &c. The Sāṅkhyas rely on the verse 'ajāmekām' (Śv. Up. IV. 5)²²²² for Upaniṣadic support to their theory about prakṛti and its three guṇas (vide bhāṣya of Śaṅkara on V. S. I. 4. 8). That verse means: there is one unborn (female), constituted by red, white and black, but producing manifold progeny resembling each other, there is one unborn being (a male) who resorts to her (loves her) and lies by her; there is another, who leaves her after having experienced enjoyment. Similarly, Sāṅkhyas argue that Kapila, the founder of the Sāṅkhya system, is mentioned in the Śv. Up. (V. 2) 'it is he who, in the beginning, bears (nourishes) by thoughts Kapila sage when born and looks on while he is being born.' If one looks to various passages of the Śv. Up. such as III. 4, IV 12, VI. 18 one must hold that ṛṣi Kapila,²²²³ the reddish sage, is Hiraṇyagarbha (the golden child), the first creation ('Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ samavartatāgre,' Ṛg X. 121. 1). Śaṅkarācārya (on V. S. II. 1. 1) replies that from the mere occurrence of the word 'Kapila' one cannot at once jump to the conclusion that he must be the founder of the Sāṅkhya, since another Kapila, called Vāsudeva, who reduced to ashes the sons of Sagara by his angry look, is well-known.²²²⁴ Śaṅkarācārya concedes on V S. II 1.