History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.60

v7.c94.60

Āsuri is mentioned by the S. Kārikā as the pupil of Kapila, also in a quotation in Yogasūtrabhāṣya on I. 25 (note 2251) and by the Śāntiparva (chap. 306). But no work is attributed to him and hardly any quotation from him is cited by writers on Sāṅkhya (except a verse quoted as his by Haribhadra a late Jain writer). Kapila is a legendary figure. In Ṛgveda X. 27. 16 Kapila²²⁴⁶ is mentioned as one among ten (Aṅgirases) whom, though similar to them, they (Aṅgirases) urge on for a sacrifice. Vide Hall's Preface to Sāṅkhya-pravacanabhāṣya (ed. 1856) pp. 14 ff for the confused legends about Kapila. Some references to Kapila in the Mahābhārata have already been noted. In Vanaparva (221. 26) Kapila is styled as the promulgator of Sāṅkhya-yoga, as Paramarṣi and as an incarnation of Agni. In the Matsyapurāṇa²²⁴⁷ it is stated that water should be offered to the seven sons of Brahmā, viz Sanaka, Sananda, Sanātana, Kapila, Āsuri, Vodhu and Pañcaśikha. The Vāmana-purāṇa (60. 70) mentions Kapila (as knower of Sāṅkhya), Vodhu, Āsuri, Pañcaśikha (as 'yogayukta') and states that Sanatkumāra approached Brahmā for yoga lore.