Causation as Satkaryavada (the theory that the effect potentially exists before it is generated by the movement of the cause)

The above consideration brings us to an important aspect of the Samkhya view of causation as satkaryavada. Samkhya holds that there can be no production of a thing previously non-existent; causation means the appearance or manifestation of a quality due to certain changes of collocations in the causes which were already held in them in a potential form. Production of effect only means an internal change of the arrangement of atoms in the cause, and this exists in it in a potential form, and just a little loosening of the barrier which was standing in the way of the happening of such a change of arrangement will produce the desired new collocationthe effect. This doctrine is called satkaryavada, i.e. that the karya or effect is sat or existent even before the causal operation to produce the effect was launched. The oil exists in the sesarnum, the statue in the stone, the curd in the milk, The causal operation (karakaiyapara) only renders that manifest (avirbhuta) which was formerly in an unmanifested condition (tirohita) (1). The Buddhists also believed in change, as much as Samkhya did, but with them there was no background to the change; every change was thus absolutely a new one, and when it was past, the next moment the change was lost absolutely. There were only the passing dharmas or manifestations of forms and qualities, but there was no permanent underlying dharma or substance. Samkhya also holds in the continual change of dharmas, but it also holds that these dharmas represent only the conditions of the permanent reals. The conditions and collocations of the reals change constantly, but the reals themselves are unchangeable. The effect according to the Buddhists was non-existent, it came into being for a moment and was lost. On account of this theory of causation and also on account of their doctrine of shunya, they were called vainashikas (nihilists) by the Vedantins. This doctrine is therefore contrasted to Samkhya doctrine as asatkaryavada. The jain view holds that both these views are relatively true and that from one point of view satkaryavada is true and from another asatkaryavada. The Samkhya view that the cause is continually transforming itself into its effects is technically called parinamavada as against the Vedanta view called the vivarttavada: that cause remains ever the same, and what we call effects are but illusory impositions of mere unreal appearance of name and formmere Maya (2).

1: Tattvakaumudi, 9. 2: Both the Vedanta and the Samkhya theories of causation are sometimes loosely called satkaryyavada. But correctly speaking as some discerning commentators have pointed out, the Vedanta theory of causation should be called satkaranavada for according to it the karana (cause) alone exists (sat) and all karyyas, (effects) are illusory appearances of the karana; but according to Samkhya the karyya exists in a potential state in the karana and is hence always existing and real.