anyathā siddhi

 

The standard Devanagari spelling of anyathā 

siddhi is अन्यथासिद्धि.

📘 Evidence from the sources

Multiple dictionary entries explicitly give the compound in Devanagari 

as अन्यथासिद्धि

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.
These entries describe it as a tatpuruṣa compound formed from anyathā

(अन्यथा) and siddhi (सिद्धि)

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📝 Notes on form and variants

• The compound is written solid (no space): अन्यथासिद्धि

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• Some sources show hyphenated transliteration forms such as 
• anyathā-siddhi, but the Devanagari remains unbroken.
• The feminine ending -ि (i) in सिद्धि is preserved in the compound.
• 

  1 Source

🔤 If you need to convert IAST → Devanagari

Tools such as the IAST-to-Devanagari converter allow direct transliteration

of anyathā siddhi into अन्यथासिद्धि

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.

In Indian logic, anyathā‑siddhi means a wrong or misapplied 

demonstration, where an effect is attributed to a cause that is 

not the true cause.

Meaning in Nyāya–Vaiśeṣika logic

The Sanskrit dictionaries describe anyathā‑siddhi as “wrong

demonstration”, where arguments are referred to untrue or accidental

causes rather than the real causal factor

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. It is a technical

error in reasoning: the effect can be explained otherwise, so the 

proposed cause is invalid.

Nyāya–Vaiśeṣika texts define it as the wrong establishment of a cause,

i.e., referring an effect to something that is not its true causal 

condition

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. This is a key part of their theory of 

causation, which requires a cause to be an invariable and necessary

antecedent.

The five classical forms of anyathā‑siddhi

The detailed list in the Vaiśeṣika tradition identifies five ways a cause 

can be wrongly assigned

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:

Saha‑tena — Taking as cause something merely accidentally present

before the effect (e.g., the potter’s stick for the jar).

Yasya — Taking as cause something inherent in an accidental factor

(e.g., the shape of the potter’s stick).

Anyaṃ prati — Taking as cause something known to be the cause 

of another effect (e.g., ether, which causes sound, being taken as

the cause of a jar).

Janakaṃ prati — Taking as cause something prior only in the sense

that it produced the real cause (e.g., the potter’s father).

Atiriktam / Āvaśyaka —  Taking as cause something entirely 

foreign to the effect (e.g., the donkey carrying the clay). This is the

most general and includes the others.

All five are cases where the proposed cause is not necessary, 

because the effect can be produced without it.

Relation to anyathā‑siddha (superfluous antecedent)

The results also include anyathā‑siddha, which is closely related but

distinct:

• Anyathā‑siddhi = wrong demonstration, a fallacy in reasoning
• about causes

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• Anyathā‑siddha = superfluous antecedent, something that 
• precedes an effect but is not a necessary cause (e.g., the
• colour of the potter’s staff)

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• 

  

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Both concern misidentifying causes, but anyathā‑siddhi is the logical 

error, while anyathā‑siddha is the type of unnecessary antecedent.

Place in Indian logic

Within Nyāya’s system of inference and fallacies, anyathā‑siddhi

belongs to the analysis of hetvābhāsa (defective reasoning). It highlights 

the requirement that a valid cause must be:

• invariable,
• unconditional, and
• directly connected to the effect.

Misattributing causation undermines inference, so identifying 

anyathā‑siddhi is essential for correct logical analysis.