Kapila Maharshi in the Mokshadharma Parva

Kapila, “the tawny one”

Kapilā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kapilā.

Kapila Maharshi of the Goka-pilīyam is the chief speaker in one long debate in the Mokshadharma Parva of the Mahābhārata (Śānti Parva, Chapters 268 to 270). The debate is about yajña (the fire ritual) and ahiṃsā (non-harm). Kapila was a man of knowledge (jñānavān), firm in sattva (calm purity) and careful in his food. He saw a cow being led to slaughter for the welcome of Nahusha. He was deeply grieved and cried out “Hā Veda!”, asking whether the command of the Veda could really allow such violence. Syūmaraśmi entered the cow’s body and argued from within her. Kapila then taught that all four āśramas (stages of life) can reach brahma-prāpti (the attainment of Brahman) by their own inner disciplines, with no need for animal sacrifice.

His character

The text describes Kapila in these words: adīnātmā sattva-sthaḥ sa yame-rataḥ. He is a man without dejection, firm in sattva and devoted to self-restraint. He is also called jñānavān and niyatāhāra (one who keeps his food regulated).

When he saw the cow being led away, he cried “Hā Veda!” Then he said at once:

nāhaṃ vedān vinindāmi na vivakshyāmi karhicit

“I do not condemn the Vedas, and I shall never speak against them.” He asked whether outward animal sacrifice is what the Vedic tradition finally teaches.

Teaching on the four āśramas

The main teaching of Kapila in the Goka-pilīyam is that all four āśramas reach brahma-prāpti through their own kind of inner yoga.

One goal, four paths. Kapila says:

gacchaty eva parityāgī vānaprasthaś ca gacchati
gṛhastho brahmacārī ca ubhau tāv api gacchataḥ

The sannyāsī (one who has given up the world) reaches the highest state, the paramapada. The vānaprastha (forest-dweller) reaches it too, and so do the brahmacārin (student) and the gṛhastha (householder). Liberation is not kept only for those who have given up the world.

Four deva-yānas. The śruti (the Vedas) speaks of four deva-yānas, paths of the devas, one for each āśrama. All lead to the same goal, though they give different fruits on the way. The sannyāsī reaches moksha, the vānaprastha reaches brahma-loka, the brahmacārin reaches ṛshi-loka, and the gṛhastha reaches svarga. Still, full devotion within any āśrama, which is its inner yoga, can reach the paramapada itself.

The path of the gṛhastha. A gṛhastha can also reach liberation if he lives on wealth won by right means (nyāya-āgata-dhana), is devoted to tattvajñāna (knowledge of the truth), honours guests, performs śrāddha (rites for the ancestors) and speaks only the truth. The path of the active householder (pravṛtta gṛhastha) includes four practices:

• prāṇāyāma (control of breath), to burn up gathered karma
• dhāraṇā (steady holding of the mind), to clear faults
• pratyāhāra (drawing the senses inward), to loosen attachments
• dhyāna (meditation), to go beyond the qualities of the ego

Pravṛtti and nivṛtti

Kapila did not say that pravṛtti (the life of action in the world) is false. He said it is a first stage that points toward nivṛtti (turning away from the world), which is the full ripening of spiritual life. One who knows the inner meaning of yajña, that it is the self offered into the fire of knowledge, has gone beyond the outer form without rejecting the tradition that taught it.

He also says:

pṛthag āśramiṇāṃ karmāṇy ekārthāni iti naḥ śrutam

“I have heard from the elders that the works of the different āśramas all serve one aim.”

Kapila in the Anuśāsana Parva

In Chapter 18 of the Anuśāsana Parva, in the part on the greatness of the Śiva-sahasranāma (the thousand names of Bhagavān Śiva), a Kapila appears in a line of devotees who tell of the boons they gained through devotion to this stotra (a song of praise). He is called deva-sammata, honoured by the devas, and Sāṅkhyācārya, a teacher of Sāṅkhya. He says that through many births he worshipped Śaṅkara, who was pleased and gave him the jñāna that brings saṃsāra to an end.

The text does not say whether this Kapila is the Kapila of the Goka-pilīyam in the Mokshadharma Parva, or the Kapila who is an avatāra (a coming down of Bhagavān Vishṇu) in the Bhāgavata. He is given simply under the name Kapila.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapters 268–270 (the Goka-pilīyam)
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 18 (the Śiva-sahasranāma-mahimā)