[Advaita-l] What is the difference between Satkaryavada of Sankhya and Vivarta vada of Advaita

[Kripa Shankar]

You said :  That is the reason why pariṇāma is treated as non-different, synonymous with, vivarta in Advaita. 

‎» As far as I understand, parinama vada follows satkArya vAda. That is, any effect should have an antecedent cause. This vada satisfies how the jagat is created from brahman (or prakruti? ). Brahman is both upadana and nimitta karana for srishti/jagat. But what is the cause of Brahman then? 

If we say brahman is both the cause as well as the effect, then the satkāryavāda will not be satisfied, that is cause-effect relation will be nullified. Because when brahman is both the cause and effect, we cannot say which one precedes the other(the effect can precede the cause) . Also brahman being both the cause as well as the effect, will lead to infinite regress. ‎We need another brahman which will be the cause for another brahman which is the effect. 
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Hence also gold -bangles or mud-pot cannot be vivarta. Because otherwise, the jagat will be brahman and brahman will be jagat. ‎My doubt arose because of this issue. 

Regards 
Kripa ‎

yo vedAdau svaraH prokto vedAnte cha pratiShThitaH |
tasya prakRRiti-lInasya yaH parassa maheshvaraH || ‎‎
  Original Message  
From: Kripa Shankar
Sent: Thursday 9 February 2017 7:30 PM
To: V Subrahmanian
Cc: Advaita discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: Fw: [Advaita-l] What is the difference between Satkaryavada of Sankhya and Vivarta vada of Advaita



‎»‎Thanks a lot for the references Subramanian. It is clear that Gaudapada makes a distinction between Arambhava - Parinama vada / Satkaryavada and vivarta vada. 

You said : ‎Vedanta too admits the satkāryavāda: the effect, prior to manifestation, is non-different from the cause. Brahman the 'cause' alone appears as the 'effect', the world. It is for this reason the rajju sarpa, mirage water, etc, examples are given in the bhashya. As per sankhya satkaryavada, the effect, prior to manifestation, is real. They do not negate the effect as unreal unlike the vedantins. 

»‎ This is essentially the difference between vivarta vada and satkaryavada / parinama vada. Here the key word is * appears*. The real world example is given by your self in the Gita portion : 
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‎अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः । 
कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ॥ ४ ॥

If we accept parinama vada to be same as vivarta vada, how can Krishna explain this paradox? Because it's akin to effect preceding the cause. 

Krishna replies in the very same fashion as Gaudapada and explicitly says Atman is Ajata, ishwara etc. The key criterion here is mAyA. ‎
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‎अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा 
भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् । 
प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय 
सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया ॥ ६ ॥‎

Hence creation sustenance and dissolution is mAya, vyAvahArika only. Ultimately it is Aja. Only vivarta vada can explain this paradox sufficiently. parinama vada is limited only to vyaahaarika level. 

Regards 
Kripa ‎
‎
‎
yo vedAdau svaraH prokto vedAnte cha pratiShThitaH |
tasya prakRRiti-lInasya yaH parassa maheshvaraH ||