A powerful sage. Kapila was born to Brahma’s son Kardama and Brahma’s granddaughter Devahuti (daughter of Swayambhuvamanu) Swayambhuvamanu had two sons – Priyavrata and Uttanapada and three daughters – Ahuti, Devahuti and Prasuti. The daughters were married to prajapatis Ruchi, Kardama and Daksha respectively. Yajna, who was an ansh avatar of Vishnu, was born to Ahuti and Ruchi. Kapila was born to Kardama and Devahuti, and was famous as a Sankhyacharya and yogi. Several daughters were born to Daksha and Prasuti as per Devibhagavata Ashtamaskanda.

Kapila was also known as Chakradhanus as per Mahabharata Udyogaparva Chapter 109 verse 17.

As per Bhagavata Tritiyaskanda, Kardama married Devahuti. They celebrated their marriage by flying all over the world. They had nine daughters and one son, Kapila. The daughters were married to Marichi and other sages.

As per Brahmandapurana Chapter 93, Kapila was an avatar of Vishnu.

When Kapila was in the midst of meditation, Kardama died and Devahuti approached Kapila and asked him to impart knowledge. Kapila taught her bhaktimarga and she entered samadhi as per Bhagavata Tritiyaskanda.

Once there was a suryavanshi king called Sagara, who had two wives Keshini and Sumati. Keshini had one son called Asamanjas and Sumati had 60000 children. Once Sagara conducted an ashwamedha in the Indus-Ganges plains. The yajna was led by Asamanjas’ son Anshuman. When they got to mountain top, Indra appeared in the form of a rakshasa and hid the horse in patala. Sagara sent his 60000 sons to hunt for the horse. They reached Jambudwipa and dug out the entire island. The devas, gandharvas and bhujangas complained to Brahma. Brahma said that Vishnu was the master of the world and he had incarnated as Kapila to Sagara’s sons. Meanwhile, Sagara’s sons returned to tell their father that the horse couldn’t be found. Sagara asked them to dig further. They reached Patala, circled the ashtadigpalakas and descended from the north eastern end. There, they found the horse tied next to Kapila. They made a huge noise and Kapila responded with a grunt. All 60000 of Sagara’s sons were burned to ashes as per Ramayana Balakanda Sargas 39-40. See Bhageeratha for the remaining story.

Kapila was a mahayogi. He created Kapilashastra and taught it to Devahuti. The Sankhya philosophy is based on his yogashastra and is also known as Kaapila. After imparting this knowledge to his mother, Kapila went away and started living in Pulaha’s hermitage as per Devibhagavata Ashtamaskanda.

Kapila was the guru of a king named Sindhuraja as per Bhagavata Panchamaskanda. He was also one of the sages who visited Bhishma when the latter was lying on the bed of arrows, as per Mahabharata Shantiparva. Kapila once had a debate on whether Grihastha dharma or Yoga Dharma was better with a sage called Gov as per Mahabharata Shantiparva Chapter 286. Kapila was a sage who was as radiant as Agni as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapter 107. Accoding to Mahabharata Anushasanaparva Chapter 18, verse 4, Kapila was a devotee of Shiva and a Sankhya expert. He wrote two works – Sankhyapravachana and Tattvasamasa.