pañcamaḥ kapilo nāma siddheśaḥ kāla-viplutam provācāsuraye sāṅkhyaṁ tattva-grāma-vinirṇayam
Synonyms
pañcamaḥ—the fifth one; kapilaḥ—kapila; nāma—of the name; siddheśaḥ—the foremost amongst the perfects. Kala—time; kāla—lost; viplutam—said; provāca—unto the Brahmin of the name Asuri; āsuraye—metaphysics; sāṅkhyam—the sumtotal of creative elements; tattva-grāma—exposition.
Translation
The fifth incarnation advented Himself by the name of Lord Kapila who is the foremost amongs the perfect beings. He made an exposition of the creative elements and metaphysics before Asuriya Brahmin of the name, the system being lost in course of time.
Purport
The sumtotal of the creative elements are twenty four in all. Earth and every one of them are explicitely explained in the system of Samkhya Philosophy. The Samkhya Philosophy is generally called the metaphysics by the European scholars. The aeteological meaning of Samkhya is what explains very lucidly by analysis of the material elements. This was done for the first time by Lord Kapila who is said herein as the fifth in the line of incarnations.