Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma,
Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa,
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma,
Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare
Krishna Productions presents, a narration of the book "Teachings of Lord Kapila, Son
of Devahūti." It was written by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svāmī Prabhupāda,
the Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In this context,
the word ācārya means "a person who is perfected in God-consciousness and who teaches others,
both by precept and example, how to perfect themselves." The book was published by the
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust of Los Angeles, California in 1977 and all rights are reserved by it.
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
And now I, Amala Bhakta dāsa, the narrator, offer my respectful obeisances at the lotus
feet of my spiritual master, Śrīla Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken
shelter of His lotus feet. He is kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanya and delivering
souls all over the world from the clutches of impersonalism and voidism by his books,
recordings and devotees. I pray that His Divine Grace may beslow his special mercy on me,
so that I may recite his illuminating words in such a way that whoever hears them, may
be inspired to want to know and love the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and thereby become eternally
engaged in His transcendental devotional service. And now I begin the narration of "Teachings
of Lord Kapila, Son of Devahūti," starting with the foreword.
Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare
Kapila Muni, a renowned sage of antiquity, is the author of the philosophical system
known as Sāṅkhya, which forms an important part of India's ancient philosophical heritage.
Sāṅkhya is both a system of metaphysics, dealing with the elemental principles of the physical
universe, and a system of spiritual knowledge, with its own methodology, culminating in full
consciousness of the Supreme Absolute. Kapila, however, is not an ordinary philosopher or
sage. According to Vedic tradition, the tradition of India's ancient scriptural literature,
He Himself is an avatāra (incarnation) of the Supreme Absolute Truth.
Kapila's teachings are originally inscribed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or Bhāgavata Purāṇa,
one of the most important scriptural documents of Vedic theism. Within the Bhāgavatam, Kapila's
teachings comprise Chapters Twenty-five through Thirty-three of the Third Canto. This book,
Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti, is based on a unique series of lectures presented
in Bombay, India, in the spring of this series, Śrīla Prabhupāda spoke from the Twenty-fifth
Chapter [SB 3.25.1], which contains the beginning of Lord Kapila's teachings. Śrīla Prabhupāda
is the author of a celebrated multivolume translation and commentary on the entire text
of the Bhāgavatam, and at the time of the Kapila lectures he had already completed his
written commentary on the section of the Bhāgavatam dealing with Kapiladeva's teachings. In these
special lectures, however, Śrīla Prabhupāda went into significantly greater detail in
elucidating the verses and shed an even broader light upon these fascinating teachings.
The text begins with the words of Śaunaka, the foremost of the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya,
the vastly learned sages to whom Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was originally spoken some thousands of years
ago. The sages have already heard about Lord Kapiladeva from Sūta Gosvāmī, an exalted spiritual
master, and it is clear from Śaunaka's words that they accept Kapila Muni as being an incarnation
of the Lord Himself and as therefore being the highest authority on yoga and transcendental
knowledge. In recounting the history of Lord Kapila, Sūta Gosvāmī, in accordance with Vedic
principles for presenting spiritual knowledge, refers to discourse by great spiritual masters
who have previously discussed this same subject. In this case, Sūta Gosvāmī refers to a discussion
between Vidura and the great sage Maitreya, who was a friend of Vyāsadeva, the original
compiler of the Vedic literature. As Sūta Gosvāmī has already described, Lord
Kapila appeared in this world as the son of Kardama Muni, a master of mystic yoga, and
his wife, Devahūti. Both Kardama Muni and Devahūti were aware of the divinity of their
son. Indeed, even before Kapila's birth, Lord Brahmā himself, the chief created person in
this universe, had appeared before Devahūti and revealed to her that her son was to be
an incarnation of the Supreme Lord and that this incarnation would enlighten her with
spiritual knowledge. According to the Vedic social system, a man
with a grown son may accept the order of sannyāsa, thus renouncing all connections with his family
and worldly life, and entrust his wife to the care of his son. Kardama Muni, of course,
knew that his son was an incarnation of the Supreme Lord, yet to honor this Vedic system
and emphasize its importance, he too eventually accepted sannyāsa, entrusting his wife, Devahūti,
to the care of his divine son, Kapiladeva. Therefore, as Sūta Gosvāmī begins to answer
Śaunaka's request to hear further about Lord Kapiladeva, the sages have already been informed
of how Kardama Muni departed for the forest, leaving Kapiladeva behind with Devahūti.
After Kardama Muni's departure, Devahūti, remembering the prophetic words of Lord Brahmā,
approaches her divine son and humbly expresses her desire for spiritual enlightenment: "My
Lord, I have fallen into the abyss of ignorance. Your Lordship is my only means of getting
out of this darkest region of ignorance because You are my transcendental eye, which, by Your
mercy only, I have attained after many, many births.... Now be pleased, my Lord, to dispel
my great delusion... You are the ax which can cut the tree of material existence. I
therefore offer my obeisances to You, who are the greatest of all transcendentalists,
and I inquire from You as to the relationship between man and woman and between spirit and
matter." (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.7-11) Pleased by His mother's pure desire for spiritual
enlightenment, and feeling great compassion for her, Kapila begins to speak on the Sāṅkhya
philosophy. Now, what is Sāṅkhya? Insofar as Sāṅkhya deals
with the elemental categories or principles of the physical universe, Sāṅkhya is what
Western scholars generally refer to as "metaphysics." The term sāṅkhya literally means "to count."
This name is used because Sāṅkhya philosophy enumerates principles of cosmic evolution
by rational analysis. The etymological meaning of the word sāṅkhya is "that which explains
very lucidly by analysis of material elements." Philosophically, this term is used because
the Sāṅkhya system expounds analytical knowledge that enables one to distinguish between matter
and spirit. This understanding culminates in bhakti, devotion for and service to the
Supreme. It may be said, therefore, that Sāṅkhya and bhakti form two aspects of the same process,
bhakti being the ultimate goal or ultimate aspect of Sāṅkhya.
It is interesting to note, at this point, that long after Lord Kapila's descent, an
imitation Kapila appeared on the Indian subcontinent and propounded a nontheistic Sāṅkhya. That
which is generally studied as Sāṅkhya in the contemporary academic context is actually
this later, nontheistic, materialistic Sāṅkhya. The Sāṅkhya philosophy, propounded by the
original Kapila, is practically unknown in the West. Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son
of Devahūti (along with Śrīla Prabhupāda's complete commentary on Kapila's Sāṅkhya in
his edition of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam) is probably the first major exposition in the English
language on the original, theistic Sāṅkhya. It should therefore be of considerable interest
to scholars in this field. Because the basic principle and the ultimate
goal of Lord Kapiladeva's Sāṅkhya philosophy is bhakti, this is the subject with which
Lord Kapiladeva begins His instructions to Devahūti. Consequently, because this volume,
Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti, is Śrīla Prabhupāda's commentary on the beginning
of Lord Kapila's teachings, it is chiefly concerned with the science of bhakti-yoga—the
process of linking with God (yoga means "linking") through bhakti (devotion).
As the actual history begins, Devahūti approaches her son, Kapila, and with deep humility expresses
her sincere desire for spiritual enlightenment. In response, Lord Kapila delineates "the path
of the transcendentalists, who are interested in self-realization." Concisely summarizing
the actual process of self-realization, Kapila defines consciousness in both the conditioned
and liberated states. He describes the psychology of pure consciousness, delineates the symptoms
and characteristics of a sādhu, holy person, and stresses the importance of sādhu-saṅga
[Cc. Madhya 22.83], association with those who are saintly. Kapiladeva then explains
that liberation is merely a stage preliminary to the attainment of bhakti and that one who
attains bhakti automatically achieves liberation. One who engages in bhakti, devotional yoga,
automatically transcends material desires and ultimately crosses beyond birth and death.
According to later descriptions in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Devahūti ultimately attains full enlightenment
in transcendental knowledge by hearing and understanding the sublime philosophical teachings
of her great son. This is signed by the publishers.