Lord Kapila is a renowned sage and the author of the philosophical system known as Sāṅkhya, which forms an important part of India’s ancient philosophical heritage.

Sāṅkhya is a system of metaphysics that deals with the elemental principles of the universe; it is also a system of spiritual knowledge, with its own methodology, and culminates in full consciousness of the Supreme Absolute.

Lord Kapila, however, is not an ordinary philosopher or sage but an incarnation of God. This book deals with His answers to His mother’s inquiries about how to overcome ignorance and delusion in order to attain spiritual enlightenment.

The underlying theme running throughout his answers and throughout Śrīla Prabhupāda’s commentaries on them is that one can achieve this goal by practicing bhakti-yoga, the process of linking one’s heart with the Lord’s heart through loving devotional service.

This book, drawn from a series of lectures Śrīla Prabhupāda gave on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s Third Canto, sheds light on such topics as the significance of the guru, the psychology of consciousness, the characteristics of a self-realized person, the science of meditation, the nature of transcendental knowledge, and the process of achieving ultimate liberation from the cycle of birth and death.