The Substantivists (svabhāvavāda)1
will say, ‘With causal production, the cause and effect must either be the same, different or both, and then one will run into those problems. But if I do not assert a cause, those problems will not be an issue. Hence, it is in fact the case that things arise by themselves. We do not observe anything that deliberately makes the roughness and smoothness of the fibres and petals of the lotus flower; nor do we observe anything that makes the various colours and shapes of the petals, stamens and pistils. The same is the case for breadfruit, pomegranate and so forth. And just as with these things that are part of the environment, we do not observe anything that intentionally designs the colours, shapes and so forth of lifeforms such as peacocks, partridges and cranes. The fact therefore, is that production of things happens naturally.’
To comment on this:
If causelessly production could in fact take place,
Then endless things would always come from everything.
And people of the world would not in all these ways
Be planting seeds and so forth to make crops appear. (6.99)
If things could arise spontaneously, just as the breadfruit tree wouldn’t then be the cause of breadfruit, all other sorts of things that are not its cause could also produce it – neem, mango and so forth – since they would all equally be non-causes. Just as breadfruit could be found on trees that aren’t its cause, it could also emerge from anywhere in the three realms. And, even though fruits such as mango and breadfruit2
are seasonal, appearing only at certain times, they would then be perennial, not being reliant on seasons.
Similarly, since peacocks wouldn’t be the cause of peacock feathers, crows would also have peacock feathers; and even at the embryonic stage, peacocks would always have parrot feathers. Every being would in this way perpetually come into being, but this is clearly not the case – so to assert naturalness makes no sense.
Having shown how it contradicts reason, to further explain how it contradicts what we can observe it says, ‘… and people of the world wouldn’t then be preparing all these things, like seeds, to make their crops appear.’ This demonstrates that production doesn’t happen naturally.
Title
Chapter 1: Pramuditā
