Verse 1.11

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

नैतदेवं भवेन्न्याय्यं विरुद्धफलदायिनाम् ।
सम्भवात्कर्मणां पुंसो भूयसां शास्त्रदर्शनात् ॥ ११ ॥

naitadevaṃ bhavennyāyyaṃ viruddhaphaladāyinām |
sambhavātkarmaṇāṃ puṃso bhūyasāṃ śāstradarśanāt || 11 ||

English translation of verse 1.11:

This argument is not valid, since many deeds productive of opposite results are possible for a person, as shown by Scripture.

Notes:

Let us suppose for the sake of argument that a person who is desirous of liberation abstains from prohibited deeds, and also does not perform optional rites. The difficulty which the Mīmāṃsā view has to face centres round the accumulated deeds which are in store (sañcita). These accumulated deeds may be of different kinds, good as well as bad. Again, there may be many kinds of good deeds and also many kinds of bad deeds. If it is admitted that there is a storehouse of deeds of various kinds which are productive of opposite results, rebirth cannot be avoided.

It may be argued that all the deeds which have not yet given fruit so far in this life of a person will bear fruit together in the next life. If so, sañcita-karma will cease to exist at the termination of this life. But this argument is untenable. It is not true to say that all the accumulated deeds bear fruit together at the same time. The fruit of jyotiṣṭoma is different from that of a cold-blooded murder. These fruits have to be reaped in two different bodies. How is it possible for a person who has performed these deeds to reap their fruits in one and the same life? Scripture does not justify the view that the fruits of different deeds can be enjoyed in one and the same life. Among the deeds which are in store, that which is powerful bears fruit at the termination of life, putting aside other deeds which are not so powerful.