Kapila
mythological figure · 4 works · 4 mentions · 9 anchored passages
the sage · the eternal Vāsudeva · the supreme sage · the venerable Kapila
in the texts
Sāṃkhyakārikā
The primordial sage traditionally credited as the original teacher of the Sāṃkhya doctrine.
This secret knowledge of the puruṣa (self)'s purpose was fully expounded by the supreme sage [Kapila] — [the teaching] wherein the persistence, origination, and dissolution of beings are considered.
This pure and foremost [knowledge] the sage [Kapila] gave out of compassion to Āsuri;
Sāṃkhyatattvavivecana
The sage traditionally regarded as the founder of the Sāṃkhya system; addressed in the invocation and cast as the teacher in the frame narrative.
] from the plurality of subtle bodies ({{liṅgaśarīra|transmigrating body}})—the Sāṃkhya teachers, beginning with Kapila, Āsuri, Pañcaśikha, and Patañjali, describe the plurality of puruṣas.
Salutation to you, O great-souled Kapila, originator of the Sāṃkhya, the promoter of the true knowledge of the twenty-five {{tattva|ontological principle}}s.
Thus questioned, the sage—a treasury of compassion—spoke to the world-weary [disciple]:
San Hyan Kamahayanikan
Sage whose followers (a Sāṃkhya-associated school) call the supreme being Lord Puruṣa.
He is Lord Puruṣa according to the followers of the venerable Kapila.
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
Sage identified as a form of Vāsudeva, near whom the sacrificial horse is found; destroys the sons of Sagara with a glance of wrath.
This entire earth belongs to Vāsudeva the wise, who, having assumed the form of Kapila, bears her unceasingly.
Then by that immeasurable great-souled Kapila, O Kākutstha, all the sons of Sagara were reduced to heaps of ash.
There they beheld Kapila, the eternal Vāsudeva, and the horse of that divine one wandering not far away.