However, the intermixing of guṇas happens in cycles. First they all evolve together into different forms within the universe, and then they dissolve again, and so the universe comes apart.
Whereas in Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika two elements (a binary) combine with other elements to produce new elements, in Sāṅkhya-Yoga the same three factors are always reproducing themselves and staying in combination together.