Talk:Mimamsa-Karmamarga:Explication of Vedic Laws
By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami
Of the fourteen branches of learning (caturdaśa-vidyā), after the four Veda-s and the ṣaḍaṅga, we have the four upaṅga-s of the Veda-s remaining. "Upa + aṅga" = "upaṅga". The prefix upa is added to suggest what is auxiliary to a subject. Sabhānāyaka means speaker; upasabhānāyaka means deputy speaker. In the same way, we have, after the six aṅga-s (ṣaḍaṅga), the four upaṅga-s. These are Mīmāṃsā, Nyāya, the Purāṇa-s and Dharmasūtra or Dharmāśāstra.
“Mim” is the root of the word Mīmāṃsā; sa is the pratyaya. Mīmāṃsā means "esteemed or sacred inquiry", an exposition. What is esteemed or worthy of worship? The Veda-s. Mīmāṃsā is an exegesis of the Veda-s. Nirukta explains the meaning of the words of the Veda-s, also their etymology in the fashion of a dictionary. Mīmāṃsā goes further to find out the significance of the mantra-s, their intent. It also gives its decisions on these points.
Karma-kāṇḍa is called the pūrva-bhāga, the first or early part of each Vedic recension, and the second or concluding part is the uttara-bhāga. Mīmāṃsā too is divided in this way into Pūrvamīmāṃsā and Uttaramīmāṃsā. The first holds that sacrifices and other rites of the karma-kāṇḍa form the most important part of the Veda-s, while the second maintains that the realization of the Ātman taught in the jñāna-kāṇḍa is their true goal. I spoke about the Uttaramīmāṃsā when I dealt with the Upaniṣad-s and the Brahmasūtra.
Uttaramīmāṃsā, that is the Brahmasūtra as well as the Upaniṣad-s, constitutes Brahmavidyā or Vedānta here. It is the foundation of the three important philosophic systems – Advaita (non-dualism or monism), Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism or qualified monism), and Dvaita (dualism).
Our present subject is Pūrvamīmāṃsā. The term Mīmāṃsā itself usually denotes Pūrvamīmāṃsā. But mention of it brings to mind Uttaramīmāṃsā also. Every system has, as we have seen, its sūtra-s, bhāṣya, and vārttika. The Pūrvamīmāṃsā-sūtra is by Jaimini Maharṣi, its bhāṣya by Śabarasvāmin, and its vārttika by Kumārila Bhaṭṭa. Kumārila Bhaṭṭa's Bhaṭṭadīpikā remains the most important Pūrvamīmāṃsā work. Kumārila was an incarnation of Kumārasvāmin or Subrahmaṇya. Prabhākara has written a commentary on Pūrvamīmāṃsā in which he expresses views which, on some points, are divergent from Kumārila Bhaṭṭa's. So, two different schools are identified in Mīmāṃsā – "Bhaṭṭa-mata" and "Prabhākara-mata". Let us consider Mīmāṃsā in general terms, ignoring the difference between the two schools. Bhaṭṭa-mata, it is obvious, gets its name from the fact that it represents the views of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa.
Jaimini's Pūrvamīmāṃsā-sūtra is a voluminous work and has twelve chapters, each having several pāda-s and each pāda having several adhikaraṇa-s. In all, there are 1000 adhikaraṇa-s.
The Veda-s constitute the law of Īśvara. Since they are eternal and endless, the law is also eternal. All of us are the subject of the monarch called Īśvara. He has engaged many officials, authorities, like Indra, Vāyu, Varuṇa, Agni, Yama, Īśāna, Kubera, Nirṛti, and so on, to take care of this world. They need a law to protect the creatures of all fourteen worlds. How should we, the subjects of Īśvara, conduct ourselves according to this law? How are the officials appointed by Īśvara to rule over his domain? We may find out the answer to these by examining the Veda-s. Some judges deliberate on the laws of this world and resolve doubts concerning them with the help of lawyers. If the Veda-s are the law that determines how dharma is to be practised, it is Jaimini who interprets the meaning of this law. His interpretation is Mīmāṃsā.
When there is a legal dispute, a verdict is given, say, according to the decision of the Allahabad or Bombay High Court based on similar cases. The decision given by one court about one case may be applied to a similar case that comes up before another court. In Jaimini's Mīmāṃsā, a thousand issues (or points) are examined, taking into account the views opposed to those of the author of the sūtra-s, and the meaning of the Vedic passage is determined with cogent reasoning. To explain: first, a Vedic statement is taken up; second, questions are raised about its meaning (samasya); third, the opposing school's point of view is presented (pūrvapakṣa); fourth, that point of view is refuted (uttarapakṣa); and, fifth, a conclusion is arrived at (nirṇaya). The process of arriving at the meaning of each issue or point constitutes an adhikaraṇa.
The sūtra-s of Jaimini are very terse. Śabara's commentary on them is called Śābaram. The word śabarī usually means a hunter. Śabarī of the Rāmāyaṇa, they say, was originally a huntress. Śabara, the Mīmāṃsā commentator, had an aspect of Īśvara in him. It is believed that Īśvara composed the commentary (Śābaram) when he appeared as a hunter to grant the Pāśupata weapon to Arjuna.
Since it has one thousand adhikaraṇa-s, Pūrvamīmāṃsā is called "Sahasrādhikaraṇī". One must add here that in this work, the meaning of the Vedic texts is determined by countering many a captious argument (kuyukti).
While Pūrvamīmāṃsā concerns itself with the meaning of the karma-kāṇḍa of the Veda-s, Uttaramīmāṃsā deals with the meaning of the jñāna-kāṇḍa, that is, the Upaniṣad-s. The Upaniṣad-s speak primarily of the Paramātman and our inseparable union with him. Vyāsa, in his Brahmasūtra, determines the meaning of the divine law constituted by the Upaniṣad-s. Ironically enough, the sage who composed the sūtra-s for Uttaramīmāṃsā, Vyāsa, was the guru of Jaimini, who composed the sūtra-s of Pūrvamīmāṃsā.
Sureśvarācārya wrote a commentary on the Taittirīya and Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad-s from the non-dualistic point of view. It is noteworthy that he had earlier been an adherent of Pūrvamīmāṃsā. He made the transition from the path of karma to the path of jñāna, on becoming a disciple of Śaṅkara, and wrote a commentary on his guru's bhāṣya. Before becoming a disciple of our Śrī Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda and a sannyāsin, he was called Maṇḍana Miśra.
The story goes that Śaṅkara approached Maṇḍana Miśra for a philosophical disputation during a śrāddha performed by the latter. Vyāsa and Jaimini were the two Brāhmaṇa-s to take part in the ceremony.