The Samkhya System: A History of the Samkhya Philosophy c12.9

c12.9

Sūtra itself, which thus appears to be later than his period. On the other hand, it cannot be much later, for it is commented on by Aniruddha, who wrote about 1500 A.D., and by Vijñānabhikṣu in the second half of the sixteenth century A.D. The work has also been commented on by Vedāntin Mahādeva at the end of the seventeenth century, and Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa at the beginning of the eighteenth; the former in his comment on the last five books follows Aniruddha faithfully, in the first copies Vijñānabhikṣu, but has independent value; the latter is a mere imitation of Vijñānabhikṣu. Despite, however, the modern date, the Sūtra is a source of considerable importance, and may contain a good deal of old matter, though in its present form it is certainly not so pure an exposition of the system as the Kārikā.