Samkhya

Nontheistic Dualism

Samkhya philosophy, considered by some to be the oldest of all the
philosophical schools, was systematized by an ancient thinker
named Kapila (different from the Devahuti-putra Kapila of the
Srimad Bhagavatam whose Samkhya system does not exclude God).
The first work of nontheistic Samkhya, the Samkhya Sutra, is
traditionally attributed to Kapila, but in its present form it is
not his original work. So the Samkhya-karika of Isvarakrsna is
actually the earliest available Samkhya text. Among its more well-
known commentaries are Gaudapada's Bhasya, Vacaspati Misra's
Tattva-kaumudi, Vijnanabhiksu's Samkhya Pravacanbhasya, and
Mathara's Matharavrtti. Topics traditionally emphasized by Ka-
pila, Isvarakrsna, and other Samkhya commentators are the theory
of causation, the concept of Prakrti (the unconscious principle)
and Purusa (the conscious principle), the evolution of the world,
the concept of liberation, and the theory of knowledge. The
special feature of Samkhya is its summing up of all of the Nyaya
and Vaisesika constituents of reality--with the exception of
Isvara, God, Who is simply excluded from the system--into two
fundamental principles: Purusa and Prakrti.  Nirisvara Samkhya
(notheistic Samkhya) is therefore a dualistic philosophy.

The Samkhya Theory of Cause and Effect

All Indian philosophies base their explanation of the evo-
lution or manifestation of the universe on two fundamental
views of cause and effect: satkaryavada and asatkaryavada.
According to satkaryavada, the effect exists in its cause prior to
its production or manifestation, but the asatkaryavada position
maintains that the effect does not exist in its cause prior to
manifestation. This latter theory is also called arambhavada,
which means `the doctrine of the origin of the effect.' All other
theories related to cause and effect are based on one or the other
of these two fundamental positions.  Samkhya philosophy accepts
the satkaryavada view of causation.   Regarding satkaryavada,
there are two schools of thought: vivartavada and parinamavada.
The first is accepted by Advaita vedantins, who hold that the
change of a cause into an effect is merely apparent.  For example,
when one sees a snake in a rope, it is not true that the rope is
really transformed into a snake; it simply appears to be that
way. This theory serves as the basis for the Advaitist explanation
of God, the universe and the individual soul.  Samkhya philosophy
upholds the view of parinamavada, according to which there is a
real transformation of the cause into the effect, as in wood being
transformed into a chair, or milk into yogurt.

Samkhya philosophy developed elaborate explanations to argue the
parinamavada version of satkaryavada that a cause actually changes
into its effect. These explanations are central to the whole
Samkhya system, which proceeds from the premise that the effect
exists in its material cause even before the effect is produced.
There are five basic arguements for this premise. The first,
asadakaranat, states that the effect exists in its material cause
before its production because no one can produce an effect from a
material cause in which that effect does not exist.  For example,
no one can turn the color blue into the color yellow, nor
can anyone produce milk from a chair, because yellow does not
exist in blue and a chair does not exist in milk. The second
argument is upadanagrahanat, which states that because there is an
invariable relationship between cause and effect, material cause
can produce only that effect with which it is causally related.
Only milk can produce a yogurt because milk alone is materially
related to yogurt.  If an effect does not exist in any way before
its production, then it is impossible for an effect to be related
to its cause. Therefore, an effect must already exist in its cause
before it is produced. The third argument, sarvasambhavabhavat,
states that there is a fixed rule for the production or
manifestation of things. A cert