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04 | The Sānkhya System Theory of Causation

It is a very old and important philosophy. The founder of this philosophy is Kapila, and Sānkhya is a very old system. After Kapila came his disciple Asuri, and Asuri’s disciple is Panchasikha, then comes Isvara Krishna’s Samkhyakarika.

  • The Mahabharata says there is no knowledge like Sānkhya.
  • It is very close to Vedānta; this doctrine stands near to Vedānta since, like the latter, it admits no difference between cause and effect.

Both Sānkhya and Vedānta hold the same view of satkāryavāda.

  • There is a similar word in Sanskrit which is Sankhyā.
  • Another meaning is "Knowledge"—perfect knowledge, divine knowledge.
  • Knowledge of the self through right discrimination (between Prakṛti and Puruṣa).
  • In the Chāndogya Upanishad, the three guṇas are found, and the Sānkhya categories are mentioned in the Kaṭha Upanishad and Śvetāśvatara Upanishad.
  • Pradhāna, Prakṛti, and Guṇas are also found there.

Sānkhya System Overview

  • The Sānkhya system is the work of Kapila.
  • The primary text is the Sāṅkhya-sūtra of Kapila.
  • This system is sometimes described as ‘atheistic Sānkhya’.
  • Some of the important works in the Sānkhya tradition are:
  • Īśvarakṛṣṇa: Sāṅkhya-kārikā
  • Gauḍapāda: Sāṅkhya-kārikā-bhāṣya
  • Vācaspati: Tattvakaumudī
  • Vijñānabhikṣu: Sāṅkhya-pravacana-bhāṣya & Sāṅkhya-sāra
  • Aniruddha: Sāṅkhya-pravacana-sūtra-vṛtti
  • The name Sānkhya comes from Sankhyā, which means enumeration.
  • It aims at the right knowledge of reality by the enumeration of the ultimate objects of knowledge.
  • Sānkhya admits two kinds of ultimate realities: Spirit (puruṣa) and matter (prakṛti).

Sānkhya Metaphysics

Theory of Causation: Satkārya-vāda

Sānkhya metaphysics, particularly its doctrine of prakṛti, rests on its theory of causation. The central question is: Does an effect originally exist in its material cause prior to its production?

  • Buddha and Nyāya-Vaiśeṣikas answer this question negatively.
  • They argue that the effect cannot be said to exist before its production by some cause.
  • If the effect already existed in the material cause, there would be no sense in speaking of it being "caused" or "produced."
  • If the pot already existed in the clay, why should the potter exert himself to produce it?

If the effect were already in its material cause, it would logically follow that:

  • The effect is indistinguishable from the cause.
  • We should use the same name for both the pot and the clay.
  • The same purpose would be served by a pot and a lump of clay.

This theory, that the effect does not exist in the material cause prior to its production, is known as asatkārya-vāda. It is also called ārambhavāda (the theory of the beginning of a new effect).

Sānkhya's Theory: Satkāryavāda

Sānkhya establishes their theory known as satkāryavāda.

  • Sat means true, pure being. Kārya is the effect.
  • Satkāryavāda says that something that exists cannot originate from non-existence.
  • It is a theory about the relation of an effect to its material cause.
  • Example: When a potter makes a pot, clay is the material cause, and the pot is the effect.

The theory of causation in Sānkhya agrees with Vedānta. The core questions are:

  • What is the relation between the thread and the cloth?
  • Did this house exist in the wood before its production?
  • Did this cloth exist in the thread before its production?

The whole philosophy of Sānkhya rests on the answer to this question.

  • Satkāryavādins believe that the effect is not a new creation but only an explicit manifestation of that which was implicitly contained in its material cause.
  • A key question then becomes: Is the effect a real transformation or an unreal appearance of its cause?
  • Those who believe the effect is a real transformation are called Pariṇāmavādins.
    • Sānkhya, Yoga, and Rāmānuja believe in pariṇāmavāda.
    • The view of Sānkhya and Yoga is called Prakṛti-pariṇāma-vāda.
    • Rāmānuja’s view is called Brahma-pariṇāma-vāda.
  • Those who believe it is an unreal appearance are called Vivartavādins.
    • Śūnyavāda, Vijñānavāda, and Śaṅkara believe in vivartavāda.

Sānkhya believes in Satkāryavāda. All material effects are modifications of Prakṛti. They pre-exist in the eternal bosom of Prakṛti.

Arguments for Satkāryavāda

  1. If the effect were non-existent in the material cause, no amount of effort could bring it into existence.

    • If the pot is non-existent in the clay, then no amount of effort could create it.
    • You cannot convert salt into sugar, because sugar is not implicitly present in salt.
    • The activity of the efficient cause (like the potter) is necessary only to manifest the effect that is already present in the cause (clay).
    • When we plant a seed, a tree comes out of it. This happens because the tree pre-existed in the seed.
    • If the effect does not pre-exist, it is a non-entity, like a "hare’s horn" or a "sky-flower."
    • The effect is manifested under favorable conditions, just as oil is produced by pressing oil seeds.

  2. The effect is invariably connected with its material cause.

    • A material cause can only produce an effect with which it is causally related. It cannot produce something unrelated to it.
    • Therefore, the effect must exist in the material cause before it is produced.
    • There is an invariable relation between a cause and its effect. An effect can only be produced by a cause to which it is related.
    • But something cannot be related to something that does not exist at all.
    • If the pot did not exist in the clay, how could the clay be related to the pot?

  3. Everything cannot be produced out of everything.

    • This suggests that the effect, before its manifestation, is implicit in its material cause.
    • We see that only certain effects can be produced from certain causes.
    • You cannot make a cord from honey. If this were not true, any effect could be produced from any cause. The pot does not exist in milk, only in clay.

  4. Only an efficient cause can produce that which is potent.

    • We see that only certain effects can be produced from certain causes (e.g., curd from milk, cloth from threads). This shows that the effect somehow exists in the cause.
    • If the effect were non-existent in the cause, then producing it would mean creating something from nothing.
    • If you see a tree, there must have been a seed. If the tree didn’t exist in the seed, we would have to say the tree came out of nothing, which is absurd.

  5. The effect is the essence of its material cause and, as such, is identical with it.

    • When obstructions to manifestation are removed, the effect "flows out" of its cause.
    • The cause and the effect are simply the implicit and explicit stages of the same process.
    • The cloth is contained in the threads, oil in the oil seeds, and curd in the milk.

  6. The effect is not different from, but essentially identical to, the material cause.

    • If the cause exists, the effect must also exist.
    • The effect and the cause are the explicit and implicit states of the same substance. A cloth is not really different from the threads of which it is made.

Conclusion and Sub-theories

We can conclude that the effect exists in the material cause even before its production.

Satkārya-vāda has two main sub-theories:

  1. Pariṇāma-vāda: When an effect is produced, there is a real transformation of the cause into the effect.

    • Example: The production of a pot from clay or of curd from milk.

  2. Vivarta-vāda (held by Advaita Vedāntins):

    • Holds that the change of the cause into the effect is merely apparent.
    • Example: When we see a snake in a rope, the rope is not really transformed into a snake. It only appears as a snake but is not really one.