Purva Mimamsa ("prior inquiry"), commonly called Mimamsa, is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, founded on Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutra, devoted to the correct interpretation of the ritual injunctions (vidhi) of the Vedas and to establishing the principles by which their commands should be understood and carried out. The school holds that the Vedas are eternal, authorless (apaurusheya) and self-validating testimony (sabda) whose primary purpose is to enjoin ritual action (dharma), and it developed an influential and highly technical theory of valid knowledge (pramana), including some of Indian philosophy's most detailed accounts of verbal testimony, presumption (arthapatti) and non-cognition (anupalabdhi) as independent means of knowing. Because its central concern is textual interpretation rather than liberation or theology, Mimamsa produced hermeneutic principles, developed by commentators such as Shabara, Kumarila Bhatta and Prabhakara, that influenced Indian legal and interpretive method well beyond ritual contexts. Though its ritualist orientation was later eclipsed in popular Hindu thought by Vedanta's emphasis on liberating knowledge, Mimamsa's epistemology and hermeneutics remained a standard reference point for later Indian philosophical debate.
Facts
Disputed
Start YearSourced to the subject's own accountJaimini's dates are not independently attested; the Mimamsa Sutra is generally placed between the fourth and second centuries BCE. Founded DateSourced to the subject's own accountThe DATE column cannot hold the -300 BCE start-year already on record for Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutra. This instead dates Kumarila Bhatta's commentarial systematization, which Wikipedia calls the founding of the first sub-school of Mimamsa; 650 approximates '7th century CE'. End YearSourced to the subject's own account1200 approximates the High Middle Ages decline Wikipedia describes; no precise closing date is given, and Purva Mimamsa's ritual concerns persist in diminished form within Hindu practice today, so this marks the end of the school's organized philosophical dominance, not a hard extinction date. Classification
TraditionSourced to the subject's own account Connections
In Branch
Purva Mimamsa is centrally an epistemology of Vedic exegesis: it systematizes the pramanas (valid means of knowledge) for interpreting scriptural injunctions.
Source Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Sources
1. Mimamsa (Wikipedia)
WikipediaMimamsa, foundational text
The foundational text for the Mimamsa school is the Purva Mimamsa Sutras of Jaimini (c. 3rd to 2nd century BCE).
Wikipedia, 'Mimamsa,' Commentarial tradition section
Kumārila Bhaṭṭa (7th century CE), the founder of the first school of Mīmāṁsā, commented on both the Mīmāṁsā Sūtra and its Śabara Bhāṣya.
Wikipedia, 'Mimamsa,' History section
The school for some time in the Early Middle Ages exerted near-dominant influence on learned Hindu thought, and is credited as a major force contributing to the decline of Buddhism in India, but it has fallen into decline in the High Middle Ages and today is all but eclipsed by Vedanta.
View the Source 2. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
entry: MimamsaQuote, entry: Mimamsa
The Mimamsa school is primarily concerned with the interpretation of Vedic injunctions and developed an influential theory of the means of valid knowledge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Purva Mimamsa and Vedanta?
Purva Mimamsa reads the Vedas for ritual instruction; Vedanta reads the same texts for liberating knowledge.
Purva Mimamsa, prior inquiry, and Vedanta, also called Uttara Mimamsa or later inquiry, are the two halves of the same Vedic exegetical project, and both take the Vedas as their authority. Purva Mimamsa, founded on Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutra, is concerned with the ritual portions of the Vedas, the injunctions, vidhi, that command action, and it treats the Vedas as eternal, authorless testimony whose primary purpose is to enjoin ritual duty, dharma. Vedanta instead reads the same scriptural corpus for its liberating knowledge, the philosophical teaching of the Upanishads about the self and reality, rather than for ritual instruction. Purva Mimamsa's ritualist orientation was later eclipsed in popular Hindu thought by Vedanta's emphasis on liberation, though Mimamsa's own epistemology and hermeneutics remained a standard reference point for later Indian philosophical debate.
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