Preface

I had the pleasure and privilege of studying different branches of Indian Philosophy in the degree classes in the department of Sanskrit, Mangaldai College, Darrang and thoroughly in the Post Graduate classes specially in the philosophy group, Sanskrit Department of the Gauhati University. During this period of study, I had found that the subject matter of Mīmāṃsā philosophy is very related to our day-to-day life and that’s why a keen interest developed in me for an intense study of the Mīmāṃsā philosophy.

Later on, I approached Prof. Rajendra Nath Sarma, for doing Ph.D. under his guidance and spoke him about my special interest. He told me about the scholar Vācaspati Miśra and his contribution to the Mīmāṃsā philosophy. After that he advised me to take up the study of the Tattvabindu, a book on Mīmāṃsā philosophy of Vācaspati Miśra as the topic of my study. So, I decided to prepare a dissertation on Tattvabindu of Vācaspati Miśra: A Study for the award of Ph.D. degree.

The Tattvabindu is a prakaraṇa type of work of Vācaspati Miśra, the celebrated author and creative genius. It is one of the important works on the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, dealing with verbal knowledge (śābdabodha). Here, śābdabodha is a total knowledge arising from words in a sentence. The main theme of the Tattvabindu is what is the efficient cause of verbal knowledge. Five traditional views regarding this subject are found in the philosophical systems and in grammar. Of these views four are considered pūrvapakṣas and the fifth siddhānta in the Tattvabindu. The pūrvapakṣas are sphoṭavāda, varṇavāda, varṇamālāvāda and anvitābhidhānavāda. And the siddhānta view is abhihitānvayavāda. According to the sphoṭavāda, the sentences are indivisible entities called sphoṭas which when manifested by the latent impressions of words bring about the verbal knowledge. According to the varṇavāda, the cognition of the last letter of the sentence coupled with the latent impressions of the previous words and their meanings bring about the verbal cognition. The garland of letters which are reflected in the mirror of recollection produced by the impressions created by the experiences of letters, the words and their meanings bring about the verbal knowledge. According to the fourth view, i.e. anvitābhidhānavāda, the words themselves convey their meanings of other words with the help of ākāṅkṣā, yogyatā and sannidhi, abhihitānvayavāda contend that the meanings conveyed by their respective words produce verbal knowledge with the help of ākāṅkṣā, yogyatā and sannidhi.

The present thesis comprises seven chapters. The first chapter is the introductory chapter, which imparts Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā at a glance; a brief account of Tattvabindu; Vācaspati, his date, place and works are discussed. The second chapter contains discussions thoroughly about sphoṭavāda, i.e. one of the main theories of śabdabodha and its refutation of Vācaspati Miśra. The third chapter deals with the refutation of the second view i.e. varṇavāda on verbal knowledge. The fourth chapter discusses the rejection of the varṇamālāvāda on śabdabodha. The fifth chapter maintains the discussions on Prābhākara’s theory of anvitābhidhāna and its refutation by Vācaspati Miśra. The sixth chapter deals with abhihitānvayavāda of the Bhaṭṭa Mīmāṃsakas and its acceptance by Vācaspati Miśra. Finally, in the seventh chapter, a concluding observation on the topic is made.

It is the result of my academic pursuit for last six years under the supervision of my revered guide, Prof. Rajendra Nath Sarma. I shall feel amply rewarded if this work can arouse some interests in the minds of the readers. As I conclude, I am really conscious of probable short-comings in this work.