FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.10

पञ्चम: कपिलो नाम सिद्धेश: कालविप्लुतम् । प्रोवाचासुरये साङ्ख्यं तत्त्वग्रामविनिर्णयम् ॥ १० ॥
pañcamaḥ kapilo nāma
[panchamah kapilo naama]
siddheśaḥ kāla-viplutam
[siddheshah kaala-viplutam]
provācāsuraye sāṅkhyaṁ
[provaachaasuraye saankhyam]
tattva-grāma-vinirṇayam
[tattva-graama-vinirnayam]
Word-for-word
pañcamaḥ — the fifth one kapilaḥ — Kapila nāma — of the name siddheśaḥ — the foremost amongst the perfect kāla — time viplutam — lost provāca — said āsuraye — unto the brāhmaṇa named Āsuri sāṅkhyam — metaphysics tattva-grāma — the sum total of the creative elements vinirṇayam — exposition.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
pañcamaḥ kapilo nāma
pañcamaḥ
the fifth one
kapilaḥ
Kapila
nāma
of the name
siddheśaḥ kāla-viplutam
siddheśaḥ
the foremost amongst the perfect
kāla
time
viplutam
lost
provācāsuraye sāṅkhyaṁ
provāca
said
āsuraye
unto the brāhmaṇa named Āsuri
sāṅkhyam
metaphysics
tattva-grāma-vinirṇayam
tattva-grāma
the sum total of the creative elements
vinirṇayam
exposition.
The fifth incarnation, named Lord Kapila, is foremost among perfected beings. He gave an exposition of the creative elements and metaphysics to Āsuri Brāhmaṇa, for in course of time this knowledge had been lost.
Purport

The sum total of the creative elements is twenty-four in all. Each and every one of them is explicitly explained in the system of Sāṅkhya philosophy. Sāṅkhya philosophy is generally called metaphysics by the European scholars. The etymological meaning of sāṅkhya is “that which explains very lucidly by analysis of the material elements.” This was done for the first time by Lord Kapila, who is said herein to be the fifth in the line of incarnations.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Fifth, he became Kapila, best of the perfected beings, and spoke to Āsuri brāhmaṇa the philosophy of Sāṅkhya, which defines the various principles of existence, which had become lost with time.
Commentary

Āsuri is the name of a brāhmaṇa.

Related lectures
Personal Guidance
When the Sāṅkhya analysis of reality had been lost, Lord Kapila re-spoke it for Āsuri. True knowledge is not always added — sometimes it is recovered. Each generation needs someone to reissue what was once clear.
Reflection Questions
  • What clear knowledge has my own culture quietly lost that I could help recover?
  • Whose voice in my life is restating something old that I had stopped hearing?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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