Mr. Colebrooke on the Philosophy of the Hindus. 19 



she-goat) : the other concerning the meaning of the words pancha-panchaja- 

 Tidh, in a passage of the Vrlhad Aranyaca* which a follower of the Sanc'hya 

 would construe as bearing reference to five times five (twenty-five) prin- 

 ciples ; but which clearly relates to five objects specified in the context, 

 and figuratively termed persons (pancha^a7ia). 



It is because the Sanc'hya doctrine is, in the apprehension of the 

 Veddntins themselves, to a certain degree plausible, and seemingly coun- 

 tenanced by the text of the Vedas, that its refutation occupies so much of 

 the attention of the author and his scholiasts. More than one among the 

 sages of the law (Devala in particular is named) have sanctioned the prin- 

 ciples of the Sanc'hya ; and they are not uncountenanced by Menu.! Capila 

 himself is spoken of with the reverence due to a saint ( Mahd-Rishi) and 

 inspired sage ; and his most eminent disciples, as Panchas'ic'ha, &c. are 

 mentioned with like veneration ; and their works are dignified with the 

 appellations of tantra and smriti as holy writings, by the Veddntins, at the 

 same time that these oppose and refute the doctrine taught by him. 



Capila, indeed, is named in the Veda itself as possessing transcendent 

 knowledge : but here it is remarked, that the name has been borne by 

 more than one sage ; and in particular by Vasudeva, who slew the sons of 

 SAGARA.t This mythological personage, it is contended, is the Capila 

 named in the Veda. 



The second lecture continues the refutation of Capila's Sanc'hya, which, 

 it is observed, is at variance with the smritis, as with the Vedas : and here 

 the name of Menu is placed at the head of them, although the institutes, 

 which bear his name, will be found, as just now hinted, and as subse- 

 quently admitted in another section, to afford seeming countenance to 

 Sandhya doctrines. Such passages are, however, explained away by the 

 Veddntins, who rely in this instance, as they do in that of the Veda itself, 

 on other texts, which are not reconcileable to the Sanc'hya. 



The same argument is, in the following section, § applied to the setting 

 aside of the Yoga-smriti of Patanjali {Hairan'ya-garbha), so far as that 

 is inconsistent with the orthodox tenets deduced from the Vedas ; and, by 

 parity of reasoning, to Canade's atomical scheme ; and to other systems 

 which admit two distinct causes (a material and an efficient one) of the 

 universe. 



• Vrikad Aran. 6. Br. S. 1. 4. § 3. (S. 11-13.) f Menu's Institutes, 12. 50. 



\ Sane, on lir. Sutr. 2. 1. § 1. (S. 1-2.) § Dr. Sutr. 2. 1. § 2 (S. 3.) 



D « 



