syād etat nāsmābhirapūrvasvabhāvotpattyā kāryakāraṇabhāvo 'bhīṣṭo yena svarūpābhede sati sa virudhyate yāvatā pradhānaṃ sarpakuṇḍalādivan mahadādirūpeṇa pariṇāmaṃ gacchatteṣāṃ mahadādīnāṃ kāraṇam iti vyapadiśyate teca mahadādayas tatpariṇāmarūpatvāt tatkāryatayā vyapadiśyante /
[One might object:] "We do not maintain a causal relation through the production of a new nature, which would contradict [the principle of] non-difference in essential form. Rather, pradhāna undergoes modification into the form of mahat etc., just like a coiled serpent [modifies into an extended form], and thus it is designated as the cause of mahat etc., and these—mahat and the rest—being of the nature of its modifications, are designated as its effects."