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1Gaudapada treats the Karikas in an extremely brief and comprehensive manner, and his work is throughout a truer picture and better reflex of the pure, formal Samkhya teachings than are the fuller annotations of his successor, Vacaspati Miqra. The earlier scholiast represents faithfully the doctrines as taught by their founder, Kapila, and much less than the Samkhya Sutras is he influenced by the Brahman priesthood or the panthersin of the Upanishads and Arawyakas. Every effort is here made to disprove by cold, logical reasoning the theory of the existence of the one all-supreme soul, as creator of the material universe. Prakriti alone is responsible for this visible creation, and she is "na dvitiya" (Karikas 61, 66, Commentary). In contrast to Vijnana Bhikshu, in his Sawkhya Pravacana Bhashya, nowhere does our commentator attempt to harmonize the opposing tenets of the two rival schools, and he is indeed what S'awkaracarya later calls, in his treatment of the Sawkhya doctrine, "acabda," "contrary to the Vedas, veda-viruddha, con- 8 testing the Veda, and aveda-prasiddha, not recognized in the Vedas. Gaudapada is the heretic par excellence, and only his recognition of apta-vacana (oral tradition) as a third means of proof demonstrates that Brahmanic influence was beginning to creep into the original teachings of Kapila and force more and more into the background the pure Samkhya. Citations. — The commentary contains a large number of citations drawn from various Sanskrit works, both of the strictly classical and of the philosophical literature. For the most part these are references to doctrines and tenets of the Sawzkhya school itself, but in several instances they are mere illustrations of the topic under discussion. It is a next to impos- sible task to place them all with any degree of certainty, and this statement naturally holds more especially for the passages taken from other Sawkhya sources, this in view of the fact that there is no extant text of the school, of date prior to the Karikas themselves, of which Gaudapada is the earliest known com- mentator. The citations may be grouped under four separate heads : 1. Vedic Citations, including the Upanishads. 2. Citations strictly Classical. 3. Philosophical Citations, other than Sawkhya. 4. Sawkhya Citations. 1. Vedic Citations. — There occur two passages, apparently taken from the mantra literature. Both are found in the com- ment of Gaudapada to the second Karika. The provenience of the first is Rig Veda 8.48.3. "apama somam, amrita abhuma | aganma jyotir, avidama
2— There occur two passages, apparently taken from the mantra literature. Both are found in the com- ment of Gaudapada to the second Karika. The provenience of the first is Rig Veda 8.48.3. "apama somam, amrita abhuma | aganma jyotir, avidama devan | kirn nunan asman kriwavad arati/z | k'un u dhutir amrita martyasya? ||" "We drank the Soma, we became immortal, we entered the realm of light, we reached the gods. What may the enemy do to us now? and what (may) the injury of a mortal (do to us), O Immortal?" The second passage reads as follows : "anyac ca vede cruyate; 'atyantikam phalam paqu-badhena ; sarvawil lokam jayati, mrityuw tarati, papmanaw tarati, brahma-hatyam tarati, yo yo 'gva-medhena yajata' iti." "And moreover it is said in the Veda : "Endless rewards are to be obtained by the slaughter of cattle; whosoever offers the horse-sacrifice, subdues the whole world, passes over death, passes over evil, passes over Brahman murder." Taittiriya Sa7tzhita 5.3.12.1-2 reads: "sarvam papmanaw tarati, tarati brahma-hatyaw, yo yo 'gva- medhena yajate." Similarly Catapatha Brahmana 13.5.4.1. : "sarvam papmanaw tarati, brahma-hatyaw?, yo yo 'gva- medhena yajate." Both of these texts omit the first three clauses of the com- mentary, which seems to support the theory that Gaudapada's source was a different recension of Sawmita or not improbably a third work. It should be noted that it is possible to construe "atyantikam phalam pagu-badhena with the preceding introduc- tory clause and to begin the quotation with the words "sarvam lokaw jayati," and it may be suggested, in passing, that, although the commentator omits "sarvam" before "papmanawi," it occurs in his gloss before "lokaw" and in the faminine form. There is a third citation in Gaudapada which may have its origin in Vedic writing. This occurs in the comment on "vairagya" in Karika 23, and reads : — "pradhanam apy atra svapne-'dra-jala-sadrigam" — "even pradhana here is similar to the net of Indra in a dream." (cf. Maitri Upanishad IV. 2: — "indra-jalam iva maya-mayam.") 2. Citations Strictly Classical. — Three passages apparently drawn from classical sources occur in Karika 1. The first is in gloka. "sanakag ca sanadag ca1 | tritiyag ca sanatanah 1 1 asuri/t kapilag cai 'va | vodhuh pancacikhas tatha | ity etc brahmana/i putra/i | sapta prokta maharshaya/i. 1 1 "Sanaka and Sananda(na), and Sanatana as third, Asuri and Kapila, Vodhu and Pancagikha; these are declared (to be) the great Rshis (or) seven sons of Brahman." (cf. also Gaudapada to Karika 43.)
31 1 "Sanaka and Sananda(na), and Sanatana as third, Asuri and Kapila, Vodhu and Pancagikha; these are declared (to be) the great Rshis (or) seven sons of Brahman." (cf. also Gaudapada to Karika 43.) A reproduction of this citation is to be found in the Brihat- Paragara Dharmagastra (Weber, Verzeichniss der Berliner San- skrit-Handschriften, vol. II., p. 36; also p. 344). Mahabharata XII. 13078-80 gives the names in slightly altered form, and they occur also in the AtharvaparigishJa (Weber, Verz. II. 91), and in several passages used in connection with the pitri-tarpana and rishi-tarpana ceremonies (Weber, Verz. I. 46, 327; II. 78, 1152). The second quotation in the gloss to Karika 1 occurs as well in Karika 43. "kapilasya saho 'tpanna dharmo, jnanawi, vairagyam, aigvaryaw ca," — "together with Kapila arose right conduct, knowledge, worldly indifference and superhuman power." Its provenience is uncertain. The last passage is a gloka: "panca-viwgati-tattva-jiio | yatra tatra 'crame vaset | jafi, mundi, gikhl va 'pi | mucyate; na 'tra sawcaya/i. ||" "He who knows the twenty-five tattvas, in whatsoever stage manuscripts read : "bhavaty" for "bhavatlti," rectify- ing the metrical defect. 10 of life he may be, (whether) he be one who wears all his hair in a knot'' (jafin) "or be shaven1' (mundm) "or only the part on the crown in a knot" (gikhin), "he is released; of this there is no doubt." (The above is found also in the commentary to Karikas 2 and 22.) Fitz-Edward Hall, in his Sawkhya Sara (Introduction, p. 23, note), says that the above passage "is in Kshemananda on the Tattwa-Samasa, in Charitaswma Gam on the Shad-dargana- samuccaya." He adds further that Bhavagawega in his Tattva- yatharthya-dipana introduces this couplet together with three others, intimating that "they were borrowed, not from, but through, Paiicacikha."
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1Gaudapada treats the Karikas in an extremely brief and comprehensive manner, and his work is throughout a truer picture and better reflex of the pure, formal Samkhya teachings than are the fuller annotations of his successor, Vacaspati Miqra. The earlier scholiast represents faithfully the doctrines as taught by their founder, Kapila, and much less than the Samkhya Sutras is he influenced by the Brahman priesthood or the panthersin of the Upanishads and Arawyakas. Every effort is here made to disprove by cold, logical reasoning the theory of the existence of the one all-supreme soul, as creator of the material universe. Prakriti alone is responsible for this visible creation, and she is "na dvitiya" (Karikas 61, 66, Commentary). In contrast to Vijnana Bhikshu, in his Sawkhya Pravacana Bhashya, nowhere does our commentator attempt to harmonize the opposing tenets of the two rival schools, and he is indeed what S'awkaracarya later calls, in his treatment of the Sawkhya doctrine, "acabda," "contrary to the Vedas, veda-viruddha, con- 8 testing the Veda, and aveda-prasiddha, not recognized in the Vedas. Gaudapada is the heretic par excellence, and only his recognition of apta-vacana (oral tradition) as a third means of proof demonstrates that Brahmanic influence was beginning to creep into the original teachings of Kapila and force more and more into the background the pure Samkhya. Citations. — The commentary contains a large number of citations drawn from various Sanskrit works, both of the strictly classical and of the philosophical literature. For the most part these are references to doctrines and tenets of the Sawzkhya school itself, but in several instances they are mere illustrations of the topic under discussion. It is a next to impos- sible task to place them all with any degree of certainty, and this statement naturally holds more especially for the passages taken from other Sawkhya sources, this in view of the fact that there is no extant text of the school, of date prior to the Karikas themselves, of which Gaudapada is the earliest known com- mentator. The citations may be grouped under four separate heads : 1. Vedic Citations, including the Upanishads. 2. Citations strictly Classical. 3. Philosophical Citations, other than Sawkhya. 4. Sawkhya Citations. 1. Vedic Citations. — There occur two passages, apparently taken from the mantra literature. Both are found in the com- ment of Gaudapada to the second Karika. The provenience of the first is Rig Veda 8.48.3. "apama somam, amrita abhuma | aganma jyotir, avidama
2— There occur two passages, apparently taken from the mantra literature. Both are found in the com- ment of Gaudapada to the second Karika. The provenience of the first is Rig Veda 8.48.3. "apama somam, amrita abhuma | aganma jyotir, avidama devan | kirn nunan asman kriwavad arati/z | k'un u dhutir amrita martyasya? ||" "We drank the Soma, we became immortal, we entered the realm of light, we reached the gods. What may the enemy do to us now? and what (may) the injury of a mortal (do to us), O Immortal?" The second passage reads as follows : "anyac ca vede cruyate; 'atyantikam phalam paqu-badhena ; sarvawil lokam jayati, mrityuw tarati, papmanaw tarati, brahma-hatyam tarati, yo yo 'gva-medhena yajata' iti." "And moreover it is said in the Veda : "Endless rewards are to be obtained by the slaughter of cattle; whosoever offers the horse-sacrifice, subdues the whole world, passes over death, passes over evil, passes over Brahman murder." Taittiriya Sa7tzhita 5.3.12.1-2 reads: "sarvam papmanaw tarati, tarati brahma-hatyaw, yo yo 'gva- medhena yajate." Similarly Catapatha Brahmana 13.5.4.1. : "sarvam papmanaw tarati, brahma-hatyaw?, yo yo 'gva- medhena yajate." Both of these texts omit the first three clauses of the com- mentary, which seems to support the theory that Gaudapada's source was a different recension of Sawmita or not improbably a third work. It should be noted that it is possible to construe "atyantikam phalam pagu-badhena with the preceding introduc- tory clause and to begin the quotation with the words "sarvam lokaw jayati," and it may be suggested, in passing, that, although the commentator omits "sarvam" before "papmanawi," it occurs in his gloss before "lokaw" and in the faminine form. There is a third citation in Gaudapada which may have its origin in Vedic writing. This occurs in the comment on "vairagya" in Karika 23, and reads : — "pradhanam apy atra svapne-'dra-jala-sadrigam" — "even pradhana here is similar to the net of Indra in a dream." (cf. Maitri Upanishad IV. 2: — "indra-jalam iva maya-mayam.") 2. Citations Strictly Classical. — Three passages apparently drawn from classical sources occur in Karika 1. The first is in gloka. "sanakag ca sanadag ca1 | tritiyag ca sanatanah 1 1 asuri/t kapilag cai 'va | vodhuh pancacikhas tatha | ity etc brahmana/i putra/i | sapta prokta maharshaya/i. 1 1 "Sanaka and Sananda(na), and Sanatana as third, Asuri and Kapila, Vodhu and Pancagikha; these are declared (to be) the great Rshis (or) seven sons of Brahman." (cf. also Gaudapada to Karika 43.)
31 1 "Sanaka and Sananda(na), and Sanatana as third, Asuri and Kapila, Vodhu and Pancagikha; these are declared (to be) the great Rshis (or) seven sons of Brahman." (cf. also Gaudapada to Karika 43.) A reproduction of this citation is to be found in the Brihat- Paragara Dharmagastra (Weber, Verzeichniss der Berliner San- skrit-Handschriften, vol. II., p. 36; also p. 344). Mahabharata XII. 13078-80 gives the names in slightly altered form, and they occur also in the AtharvaparigishJa (Weber, Verz. II. 91), and in several passages used in connection with the pitri-tarpana and rishi-tarpana ceremonies (Weber, Verz. I. 46, 327; II. 78, 1152). The second quotation in the gloss to Karika 1 occurs as well in Karika 43. "kapilasya saho 'tpanna dharmo, jnanawi, vairagyam, aigvaryaw ca," — "together with Kapila arose right conduct, knowledge, worldly indifference and superhuman power." Its provenience is uncertain. The last passage is a gloka: "panca-viwgati-tattva-jiio | yatra tatra 'crame vaset | jafi, mundi, gikhl va 'pi | mucyate; na 'tra sawcaya/i. ||" "He who knows the twenty-five tattvas, in whatsoever stage manuscripts read : "bhavaty" for "bhavatlti," rectify- ing the metrical defect. 10 of life he may be, (whether) he be one who wears all his hair in a knot'' (jafin) "or be shaven1' (mundm) "or only the part on the crown in a knot" (gikhin), "he is released; of this there is no doubt." (The above is found also in the commentary to Karikas 2 and 22.) Fitz-Edward Hall, in his Sawkhya Sara (Introduction, p. 23, note), says that the above passage "is in Kshemananda on the Tattwa-Samasa, in Charitaswma Gam on the Shad-dargana- samuccaya." He adds further that Bhavagawega in his Tattva- yatharthya-dipana introduces this couplet together with three others, intimating that "they were borrowed, not from, but through, Paiicacikha."
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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