Samkhyakarika

The Samkhyakarika (Sanskrit: सांख्यकारिका, Sāṁkhyakārikā) is the earliest surviving text of the Samkhya school of Indian philosophy.[1][2] The text's original composition date is unknown, but its terminus ad quem (completed before) date has been established through its Chinese translation that became available by 569 CE.[3] It is attributed to Ishvara Krishna (Iśvarakṛṣṇa, 350 CE).[4]

In the text, the author described himself as a successor of the disciples from the great sage Kapila, through Āsuri and Pañcaśikha. His Sāṁkhya Kārikā consists of 72 ślokas written in the Ārya metre, with the last verse asserting that the original Samkhya Karika had only 70 verses.[5]

The earliest important commentary on his Kārikā was written by Gaudapada.[1] Yuktidipika, whose medieval era manuscript editions were discovered and published about mid 20th-century, is among the most significant extant review and commentary on Samkhyakarika.[1][6]

The Sāṁkhya Kārikā was translated into Chinese in the 6th-century CE.[7] In 1832, Christian Lassen translated the text in Latin. H.T. Colebrooke first translated this text into English. Windischmann and Lorinser translated it into German, and Pautier and St. Hilaire translated it into French.

  1. ^ a b c Gerald James Larson (1998), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarasidass, ISBN 81-208-0503-8, pages 146-153
  2. ^ Mircea Eliade, Willard Ropes Trask and David Gordon White (2009), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691142036, page 367
  3. ^ Gerald James Larson (1998), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarasidass, ISBN 81-208-0503-8, page 4
  4. ^ Feuerstein, Georg (2008). Yoga Tradition. Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-890772-18-5.
  5. ^ Gerald James Larson (2011), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120805033, pages 146-147
  6. ^ Albrecht Wezler and Shujun Motegi (1998), Yuktidipika - The Most Significant Commentary on the Såmkhyakårikå, Critically Edited, Vol. I. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 3-515-06132-0
  7. ^ 佛子天空藏經閣T54 No. 2137《金七十論》