Which Sāṅkhya? Bhagavān Kapila, Classical Sāṅkhya and Vedānta
Which Sāṅkhya? Sri Bhagavān Kapila, Classical Sāṅkhya and Vedānta Why the Kapila Gītā cannot be reduced to Nirīśvara Sāṅkhya A simple question led to this reflection: Is Sri Bhagavān Kapila, who teaches Sri Devahūti in the Third Skandha of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the same Kapila associated with the classical Sāṅkhya system? https://studylearningcircle.blogspot.com/2019/09/kapila-geeta-mananam-nirguna-bhakti-as.html The historical question is difficult to settle merely by assigning names. The doctrinal question is much clearer. The Kapila Gītā of the Bhāgavatam teaches Īśvara, Vāsudeva bhakti, nirguṇa bhakti, Brahma darśanam, the indwelling Ātman, transcendence of the guṇas, and powerful statements of non-difference. The classical Sāṅkhya represented by Sri Īśvarakṛṣṇa’s Sāṅkhya Kārikā presents a different metaphysical structure: many Puruṣas, an uncreated primordial Prakṛti or Pradhāna whose evolution does not require a governing Īśvara, Puruṣa as inactive witness, Prakṛti as the sour...
