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cient tradition or because Pancasikha really was Āsuri's pupil. (Since all the commentaries show the same sequence in naming the first Sāmkhya teachers we cannot suppose that Paramārtha's author was not sufficiently informed.) Moreover, we have to take into consideration the fact that between Pañcaśikha and Iśvarakrsna several teachers are mentioned, and this strengthens the impression that Pañcaśikha belonged to an earlier period.
This impression is further confirmed by the Yuktidīpikā"). Belonging as it does to the old group of commentaries on the Sāmkhyakārikā and being remarkably well-informed about the classical period of the system, this work places Pañcaśikha together with Kapila and Āsuri as definitely forming one group of teachers who are separated from Isvarakrsna by a long line of teachers 8). As we partly know these teachers from contemporary polemics we can establish their relative period in the entire history of Indian philosophy.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the Yuktidīpikā which gives the most reliable and detailed information on the Sāmkhya schools understands the Sāmkhyakārikā's vague expression bahudhā krtam tantram in the way that Pañcaśikha has taught the system to many pupils: tena ca bahudhā krtam tantram / bahubhyo janakavasişth
dibhyah samākhyātamn"). In this connection it is interesting to inalyse the introductory verses of the Yuktidīpik, in which an attempt is made to give a short sketch of the development of the system:
) Yuktidipikā, crit. ed. by P. Chakravarti (Calcutta Sanskrit Series, No. 23), Calcutta 1938.
9) Yuktidipikā p. 175, 8-16: yathā ca paramarşirāsuraye tathū asurirapi dušamāya kumārāya bhagavatpañcaśikhāya / tena ca bahudhā krtam tantram / bahubhyo janakuvasisthādibhyah samākhyātam / asya tu śāstrasya bhagavato'gre pravrttatvāt na śāstrāntaravat vamsah sakyo varsasatasahasrairapyākhyātum/ samkşepena tu dvāv ................ häritabäddhalikairātapaurikarbheśvarapañcadhikaranapatañjalivärşaganyakaundinyamūkūdika (?) sisyaparamparayagatam bhagavāniśvarakrsnaśca sāhāyakam śāstram pūrvācāryasūtraprabandhe gurulāghavamanadriyamānah paurasthyāt vyākhyātavyā ........ na garbhamatipramādam dadatiti granthabhūyasthvamupajāyate.
9) Yuktidīpikā, p. 175, 10. Cf. Mātharavrttih on Kā. 70: pañcaśikheng tena bahudhākstam tantrambahūnām sisyānām pradattam.
caricadhikmagavānisrivamūnali hiyasthulatharay
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