---
type: Concept
bundle: yoga-darshana
bundle_version: "0.2.0"
id: parinama
title: "Pariṇāma"
iast: "Pariṇāma"
devanagari: "परिणाम"
description: "Transformation in the satkāryavāda sense, latent becoming manifest — not change, not evolution, not progress."
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
  - Sāṃkhya
text_source: "YS 3.9-3.16"
tags:
  - Yoga
  - Patanjali
  - parinama
  - transformation
  - change
  - nirodha
  - dharma
  - samadhi
not:
  - term: "change"
    why: "change in everyday English is undifferentiated; pariṇāma in Yoga Darśana is a technical term for the specific causal-transformation theory of Sāṃkhya (satkāryavāda): the effect pre-exists in the cause and pariṇāma is the actualization of what was latent"
    instead: "Keep Pariṇāma untranslated; do not substitute the English term."
  - term: "evolution"
    why: "evolution in Darwin's sense implies new forms arising by selection from variation; pariṇāma is a Sāṃkhya-Yoga term for transformation where the substance (Prakṛti) remains constant while its manifest form changes; no new substance is ever added"
  - term: "progress"
    why: "progress implies linear improvement; pariṇāma-s in YS 3.9-3.16 are formal descriptions of cognitive transformation, not value judgements about which state is better"
  - term: "development"
    why: "similar issue; pariṇāma includes both the transformations in citta during samādhi and the transformations of Prakṛti in general, not just developmental sequences"
related:
  - /concepts/chitta-vritti.md
  - /concepts/nirodha.md
  - /concepts/samprajnata-samadhi.md
  - /concepts/samapatti.md
  - /concepts/kaivalya.md
  - /concepts/guna.md
  - /concepts/prakriti-yoga.md
timestamp: "2026-06-20"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Pariṇāma — परिणाम

**Not:** change, evolution, progress, development

Transformation — the mechanism by which one state passes into another within the framework of Sāṃkhya-Yoga's causation theory (*satkāryavāda*). In YS 3.9-3.16, Patañjali describes three distinct pariṇāma-s of citta that account for the transformation from ordinary cognition to nirodha samādhi. Understanding pariṇāma is essential for understanding why yoga practice produces samādhi — and why samādhi produces kaivalya.

## Etymology

- *pari* — around, fully, completely, on all sides
- *ṇāma* — from √*nam* (to bend, to change, to incline)
- *pariṇāma* — "complete bending"; thorough transformation; the passage of a substance from one state into another

## Satkāryavāda — The Causal Theory Underlying Pariṇāma

Patañjali's transformation-theory rests on the Sāṃkhya principle of *satkārya-vāda* — "the theory that the effect pre-exists in the cause":

- The effect (*kārya*) already exists (*sat*) latently in the cause (*kāraṇa*) before it becomes manifest
- Pariṇāma is not creation ex nihilo but the actualization of what was latent
- The substance (Prakṛti or citta) is conserved; only its manifest form (*rūpa*) changes
- This contrasts with the Buddhist *asatkārya-vāda* (the effect did not pre-exist in the cause) and Western substance-plus-change models

**Implication for yoga practice:** the nirodha-state of citta is not something created by yoga practice; it is the citta's *natural* state that is progressively revealed as the conditions sustaining vṛtti-generation are removed.

## The Three Pariṇāma-s of Citta (YS 3.9-3.16)

### 1. Nirodha-Pariṇāma (YS 3.9) — The Transformation of Restraint

*vyutthānanirodhasaṃskārayorabhibhavaprādurbhāvau nirodhakṣaṇacittānvayo nirodhapariṇāmaḥ*

"Nirodha-pariṇāma is citta's conjunction with the moment of nirodha through the suppression and appearance of the saṃskāras of arising (vyutthāna) and restraint (nirodha)."

- Two competing saṃskāra-populations: vṛtti-saṃskāras (that generate new vṛttis) and nirodha-saṃskāras (that resist vṛtti-generation)
- Each moment of successful restraint adds to the nirodha-saṃskāra population
- Nirodha-pariṇāma is the transformation occurring in that contested moment
- This is the *mechanism* of meditation practice described at the cognitive level: not mystical, but a concrete structural change in the saṃskāra-distribution of citta

### 2. Samādhi-Pariṇāma (YS 3.11) — The Transformation into Absorption

*sarvārthataikāgratayoḥ kṣayodayau cittasya samādhipariṇāmaḥ*

"Samādhi-pariṇāma is the decay of all-objectedness (*sarvārthatā*) and the rise of one-pointedness (*ekāgratā*) of citta."

- Two opposing states: *sarvārthatā* (citta dispersed across many objects) and *ekāgratā* (citta concentrated on one object)
- Samādhi-pariṇāma is the transformation from dispersal toward concentration
- This accounts for the progressive deepening within samprajñāta samādhi as one-pointedness strengthens and all-objectedness weakens

### 3. Ekāgratā-Pariṇāma (YS 3.12) — The Transformation into Sustained One-Pointedness

*tataḥ punaḥ śāntoditau tulyapratyayau cittasyaikāgratāpariṇāmaḥ*

"Ekāgratā-pariṇāma is citta's transformation in which the subsiding and arising cognitive moments are equal."

- When the immediately preceding moment (*śānta* — subsided) and the immediately arising moment (*udita*) of the citta's object are identical — when there is no gap, no flickering, no shift between cognitive moments — ekāgratā is sustained
- This "sameness of successive moments" is the deep structure of the samādhi experience: it is not a single moment of concentration but an unbroken series of identical cognitive moments; the practitioner's experience of time dissolves

## Dharma-Lakṣaṇa-Avasthā (YS 3.13-3.16)

These three pariṇāma-s of citta parallel a more general ontological theory of transformation that applies to all Prakṛtic substances:

- **Dharma-pariṇāma** — transformation of the property itself (e.g., gold becoming an ornament)
- **Lakṣaṇa-pariṇāma** — transformation of the time-mark (the same gold-ornament's temporal status: past/present/future)
- **Avasthā-pariṇāma** — transformation of the condition (the ornament's degree of wear: new/worn/old)

These three apply to all Prakṛtic change — including the changes in an object of meditation. Understanding them allows the practitioner to see the three-fold nature of any object's transformation: what it is (*dharma*), when it is (*lakṣaṇa*), how worn or new it is (*avasthā*). This is one basis of the samyama-derived perceptions in Vibhūti-Pāda.

## Cross-References

- [Nirodha](nirodha.md) — the nirodha-pariṇāma is the structural account of how nirodha-practice works in citta
- [Samprajñāta Samādhi](samprajnata-samadhi.md) — the samādhi-pariṇāma and ekāgratā-pariṇāma describe the progression through the samprajñāta stages
- [Samāpatti](samapatti.md) — samāpatti describes the cognitive-coloring process; pariṇāma describes the structural transformation underneath it
- [Saṃskāra](samskara.md) — pariṇāma theory explains the saṃskāra-competition underlying nirodha-practice
- [Guṇa-s](guna.md) — pariṇāma is the Guṇa-rebalancing across stages: Tamas → Rajas → Sattva → Guṇa-equilibrium (kaivalya)
- [Prakṛti](prakriti-yoga.md) — pariṇāma is how Prakṛti operates: constant transformation within conserved substance
- [Kaivalya](kaivalya.md) — the final pariṇāma: when Guṇa-s have served Puruṣa's purposes and return to equilibrium

## Audience Metaphor

Pariṇāma is like water changing state: liquid water, ice, and steam are not three separate substances — they are the same H₂O in different manifestational forms. The substance (water / Prakṛti) is conserved; only the manifest form changes. The three citta-pariṇāma-s describe what happens to the citta-'substance' as it transitions between ordinary cognition, restraint, and absorption — not three different minds, but one citta in three modes of transformation.

## Citations

1. [Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali](/references/yoga-sutras.md) 3.9-3.16
2. [Yoga Bhāṣya of Vyāsa](/references/yoga-bhasya.md) on YS 3.9-3.16
3. [Sāṃkhya Kārikā](/references/samkhya-karika.md) on satkāryavāda (kārikā 9-11)
4. [Tattvavaiśāradī](/references/tattvavaisharadi.md) of Vācaspatimiśra on the three pariṇāma-s
