Āsuri
Āsuri
Āsuri is a ṛshi who knew Sāṅkhya, the knowledge of the tattvas (the principles of creation). The Vāmana Purāṇa names him twice. In the morning stotra that Bhagavān Śiva gave for release from the bonds of pāpa (wrongdoing), Āsuri is called upon with Piṅgaḷa, after the four Kumāras, to make the morning auspicious. And when Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada Maharshi of the four sons of Dharma, he names Āsuri with Kapila, Voḍhu and Pañcaśikha as the knowers of Sāṅkhya.
In the suprabhāta stotra of Śaṅkara
The ṛshis of a forest in Magadha taught the rākshasa king Sukeśī the duties of each day. On rising, they said, one should remember the devas and the ṛshis and recite the suprabhāta (good-morning) stotra spoken by Śaṅkara, which gives release from all pāpa whether one hears it, reads it or remembers it. In it the one who rises asks Brahmā, Murāri and Tripurāntaka, the planets and the great ṛshis to grant a good morning, and then says: “Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatkumāra and Sanātana, Āsuri and Piṅgaḷa, the seven svaras and the seven rasātalas: may they make this morning of mine auspicious!”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 14
Among the knowers of Sāṅkhya
Nārada asked how Bhagavān Vishṇu, who is one, is said to have four forms, and Pulastya answered that this most secret tattva was first told by Brahmā to Sanatkumāra. To tell who Sanatkumāra was, he said that Dharma and his wife Ahiṃsā had four sons learned in the yoga-śāstra: Sanatkumāra, Sanātana, Sanaka and Sanandana. Besides them there were the knowers of Sāṅkhya: Kapila, Voḍhu, Āsuri and Pañcaśikha, best of yogīs and a treasure of tapas. Though they were elders, they did not teach jñāna-yoga (the yoga of knowledge) to the younger ones; they taught only the measure of mahāyoga. So Sanatkumāra went to Brahmā to ask for the knowledge of yoga.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 34
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 14, 34