Mimamsa Sutras

Mīmāṃsāsūtra

The founding text of Purva Mimamsa: a systematic method for interpreting Vedic injunctions and defining dharma.

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Tradition: Purva Mimamsa · Vedic & Upanishadic foundations
Difficulty: advanced
Attribution: JaiminiTraditionally attributed to Jaimini
Period · language: Commonly placed between roughly the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE; dates are debated · Sanskrit
Themes: Dharma · Ritual · Interpretation · Language · Authority

Why read this?

Mimamsa developed the rules of interpretation that shaped Indian law, grammar and Vedanta itself. Its account of why the Veda is authoritative and how injunctions work is foundational for understanding dharma.

Questions it answers

?What is dharma, and how is it known?
?What makes a scripture authoritative?
?How should a text be interpreted when its statements seem to conflict?

Key teachings

Editorial overview

The inquiry into dharma

The text opens by announcing an inquiry into dharma and defines it as a good known through Vedic injunction (codana). Dharma is known from the Veda rather than from perception or inference.

Authority of the Veda

Mimamsa holds that the Veda is authorless (apaurusheya) and that the relation between word and meaning is eternal. On this view, Vedic statements are free of the faults that affect human testimony.

Injunctions and ritual

The heart of the Veda, for Mimamsa, lies in injunctions (vidhi) to act, especially to perform sacrifice (yajna). Descriptive passages are read as supporting these injunctions.

Rules of interpretation

Most of the text is a detailed method for resolving ambiguity: how to relate main and subsidiary rites, when a rule transfers from one ritual to another, and how to rank different kinds of evidence.

Later schools

Commentators split into two main schools: that of Kumarila Bhatta and that of Prabhakara. They differ on the number of pramanas, on how sentences convey meaning, and on the nature of error, among other questions.

Structure

Twelve books (adhyayas)Subdivided into sections (padas) and topics (adhikaranas)

Important passages

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Mimamsa Sutra 1.1.1The announcement of the inquiry into dharma
Mimamsa Sutra 1.1.2Dharma defined by reference to Vedic injunction

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Concepts

Conceptधर्मDharmaWhat upholds — order, duty, right conduct, and the nature of things.Conceptयज्ञYajna — sacrifice, offeringOffering: from the Vedic fire ritual to the inner attitude of doing all action as an offering.Conceptकर्मKarmaAction — and the way actions shape future experience.Conceptप्रमाणPramana — means of valid knowledgeThe accepted sources of valid knowledge, such as perception, inference and testimony.ConceptफलPhalaThe fruit or result of action.ConceptऋतRta — cosmic orderThe Vedic principle of cosmic, ritual and moral order — a forerunner of dharma.Conceptस्वधर्मSvadharmaOne's own duty, suited to one's nature and situation.

Textब्रह्मसूत्रBrahma SutrasUttara Mimamsa (Vedanta) takes up the inquiry into Brahman in parallel form Textश्रीमद्भगवद्गीताBhagavad GitaThe Gita reinterprets ritual action and sacrifice, for example in chapter 3 Textन्यायसूत्रNyaya SutrasNyaya and Mimamsa disagree about whether the Veda is authorless

Thinkers

ThinkerजैमिनिJaiminiThe Mimamsa Sutras are commonly placed in the last centuries BCE, though dates are uncertain.Thinkerकुमारिल भट्टKumarila BhattaScholars generally place him in the 7th century CE.Thinkerप्रभाकरPrabhakaraScholars generally place him in the 7th century CE, around the time of Kumarila; their exact chronological relation is debated.

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Traditions

पूर्व मीमांसाPurva Mimamsa वैदिकVedic & Upanishadic foundations

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