Sarvadarshanasangraha 14.22

14.22

nāpi sato 'saj jāyate/ kārakavyāpārāt prāg asataḥ śaśaviṣāṇavat sattāsaṃbandhalakṣaṇotpattyanupapatteḥ/ na hi nīlaṃ nipuṇatamenāpi pītaṃ kartuṃ pāryate/ nanu sattvāsattve ghaṭasya dharmāv iti cet — tad acāru/ asati dharmiṇi taddharma iti vyapadeśānupapattyā dharmiṇaḥ sattvāpatteḥ/

(b.) Nor can the non-existent be produced from the existent; since it is impossible that that which, previous to the operation of the originating cause, was as non-existent as a hare's horn should ever be produced, i.e., become connected with existence; for not even the cleverest man living can make blue yellow.[9] If you say, "But are not existence and non-existence attributes of the same jar?" this is incorrect, since we cannot use such an expression as "its quality" in regard to a non-existent subject, for it would certainly imply that the subject itself did exist. Hence we conclude that the effect is existent even previously to the operation of the cause, which only produces the manifestation of this already existent thing, just like the manifestation of the oil in sesame seed by pressing, or of the milk in cows by milking. Again, there is no example whatever to prove the production of a thing previously non-existent.