Verse 1.9-10

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

मोक्षार्थी न प्रवर्तेत तत्र काम्यनिषिद्धयोः ।
नित्यनैमित्तिके कुर्यात्प्रत्यवायजिहासया ॥ ९ ॥
इति मीमांसकम्मन्यैः कर्मोक्तं मोक्षसाधनम् ।
प्रत्याख्यायाऽऽत्मविज्ञानं तत्र न्यायेन निर्णयः ॥ १० ॥

mokṣārthī na pravarteta tatra kāmyaniṣiddhayoḥ |
nityanaimittike kuryātpratyavāyajihāsayā || 9 ||
iti mīmāṃsakammanyaiḥ karmoktaṃ mokṣasādhanam |
pratyākhyāyā''tmavijñānaṃ tatra nyāyena nirṇayaḥ || 10 ||

English translation of verse 1.9-10:

A person who is desirous of liberation shall not do acts which are forbidden as well as those which are prompted by desire; (but at the same time) with the desire of destroying sin, he shall perform the obligatory and occasional rites. Thus the soi-disant Mīmāṃsakas, rejecting Self-knowledge, speak of karma as the means to liberation. This view has to be examined.

Notes:

The first prima facie view which is stated and criticised in verses (9) to (22) is that of the Mīmāṃsaka who holds that karma is the means to liberation. According to this view, a person who abstains from forbidden acts and optional rites, and who performs obligatory and occasional rites will, without any further effort, attain liberation at the termination cf the present life. The assumption behind this argument is that the entire past karma has given rise to the present life and that it comes to be exhausted completely without any residue through enjoyment in the present life itself. Since there is nothing to give rise to another life, a person can attain liberation at the termination of the present life, if only he performs the obligatory and occasional rites while abstaining from forbidden acts and optional rites.