Kapila in Pātāla

In the Mahābhārata, Kapila is the great ṛshi (seer) who sat in deep meditation in Pātāla, the lower regions of the earth. Indra stole the horse of Sagara’s Aśvamedha and hid it near Kapila’s āśrama (hermitage). Sagara’s sixty thousand sons dug through the earth, found the horse and wrongly accused Kapila of the theft. He opened his eyes, and his fiery glance burned all sixty thousand to ash. He then told Aṃśumān that only the celestial Gaṅgā could free them.

Who Kapila is

This is the same Kapila who founded the Sāṃkhya darśana (school of thought). He was born to Kardama Prajāpati and Devahūti. He is held to be a direct portion of Bhagavān Vishṇu. His teaching to his mother Devahūti forms the Kapila Gītā in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. This Kapila had gone down to the lower regions of the earth and was living there in deep meditation.

The horse hidden in Pātāla

Indra wished to stop Sagara’s Aśvamedha. He stole the yajña (fire ritual) horse and hid it in the depths of the earth near Kapila’s āśrama. The horse was placed beside Kapila as he sat in meditation. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Vana Parva, Chapter 107.

The sons of Sagara

Sagara’s sixty thousand sons dug up the earth across the whole continent as they searched for the horse. They reached the depths and found the horse beside the silent, meditating Kapila. They were sure he was the thief. They surrounded him and shouted accusations and abuse at him.

Kapila’s meditation was of the deepest kind, and the fire of his tapas (austerity) had no measure. He opened his eyes. The fiery energy stored in those eyes through endless ages of meditation was released in an instant. All sixty thousand were burned to ash. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Vana Parva, Chapter 108.

Aṃśumān

Aṃśumān came afterwards and approached Kapila with complete humility and respect. Kapila was calm. He told Aṃśumān the truth. The sixty thousand could not be freed by ordinary means. Only the celestial Gaṅgā, flowing over their ash, could give them moksha (liberation).

Kapila also gave Aṃśumān the horse, so that Sagara’s yajña could be finished. His blessing was that freedom would come, but through the tapas of a later generation. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Vana Parva, Chapters 108–109.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 107–109
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa (for the Kapila Gītā)