Pūrva Mīmāṃsa Philosophy

The Vedas, which are believed to be told by the God Himself, contain two parts. The first part of the Vedas mainly deals with several sacred actions which are believed the instruments of attaining heaven. This Pūrvamīmāṃsa School of philosophy originated with the intention to prove the authenticity of the first part of the Vedas. Jaimini was the founder of this school of thought. The interesting aspect to be noticed regarding this school is that it believes only in that part of the Vedas which speak of Kriyas or Actions. The other part of the Vedas is named Uttaramīmāṃsa since it holds thoughts of purely Vedāntic doctrines which are not acceptable to the Pūrva school. According to this school, only the ritualistic part of the Vedas is effective since everybody is interested in some kind of good result for their deeds. The principles of Pūrvamīmāṃsakas highly possess a resemblance with modern thoughts. Though they believe the Vedic deeds being capable of producing results, they do not believe in specific laws. The very deed of performing sacrifice can lead the person to heaven. They do not believe in adṛṣṭa, a culture which most of the Orthodox schools like Nyāya believe to be existing. Udayanācārya, in his Nyāyakusumāñjali, refutes this argument of Mīmāṃsakas by saying that an action which ends with its performance cannot directly lead a person to heaven which is to be attained after years. So he says that there should definitely be some culture as adṛṣṭa in his Ātman or soul and that can only lead a person to heaven after his death.

Among the theistic way of thoughts, the Pūrvamīmāṃsakas hold a different view in many aspects. According to them, Manas is Vibhu, all pervading. According to the Naiyāyikas, manas are in the form of an atom. They believe that while sleeping the manas enters into a group of nādies called Suṣumna. Naiyāyikas ask if manas are Vibhu or all pervading its contact with the sensual organs will never cease. So they can have no sleep or awakening.

These Pūrvamīmāṃsakas do not believe in God^[1]. Everybody enjoys the result of his own deeds. Later this school has undergone a division under the authorship of two great scholars namely Prābhakaraguru and Kumārilabhaṭṭa. Though these two teachers believed in the original principles of Jaimini, they gave birth to their own schools since they had different views on certain issues. For instance, they hold different opinions in the way of achieving verbal knowledge or śābdabodha. Almost all Indian philosophers are seen most of their time utilized to find out the different aspects of verbal cognition. Mīmāṃsakas who come under the teacher, Kumārila Bhaṭṭa are called Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsakas. They believe that when a sentence is uttered, a listener gets the knowledge of the meaning of each word in that sentence. When the whole sentence is uttered, he gets the verbal cognition by understanding the relationship between the meanings of each word. This way of attaining verbal cognition is called Abhihitānvayavāda^[2] . Among the other systems, Naiyāyikas are also seen holding the same view. The other school of Mīmāṃsakas which developed under the headship of

Prabhākaraguru was called Prabhākara school of thought. They hold a different view in the matter of attaining verbal cognition from a sentence. According to them, no single word like ghaṭa (pot) , paṭa (cloth) can produce a meaning unless it is uttered along with the verb. So ‘ghaṭam paśya’ (see the pot), ‘ghaṭamānaya (please bring the pot) etc, alone, can produce a meaning in the listener. Since the word undergone a connection or anvaya with another is alone believed to be capable of creating a sense, these Prabhākaras are called Anvitābhidhānavādins.

The Vaiyākaraṇas or grammarians hold a different view in this matter. They say that each word in a sentence, though produces a knowledge of meaning, perishes when it is uttered. So when the whole sentence is heard, the listener could not get the meaning of the sentence since the words which have already perished cannot produce a sense. But in practice, one is seen receiving knowledge from each sentence uttered. According to the Vaiyākaraṇas, the meaning of a sentence appears in the mind of a listener something like a bomb blast once the whole sentence is uttered. This principle of grammarians is called Sphoṭa vāda.

It is true that Prabhākaras and Bhaṭṭas differ much in many of their thoughts. But they two are sprung from a single source of thoughts established by the great Jaimini. Today, in a world of action, these schools claim much importance.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Indian Philosophy, vol.1, p.882

[2]:

Indian Philosophy, vol. 1,p. 828