Origin Of Mimamsa As A School Of Thought A Hypothesis

SR No.: 269462
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst
Total Pages: 21
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

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JOHANNES BRONKHORST
If then, as was argued above, "philosophical" Mimāmsā developed its views and methods in order to defend its "way of life" against unfriendly critics, these same views and methods came to play an altogether different role by the time the unfriendliest of critics, the Buddhists, were losing influence. They became a way of (and an excuse for) explaining all traditional texts without ever needing to look for justifications. In this way the whole of traditional literature was excluded from critical debate, and the question whether this or that aspect of it could stand up to criticism lost its importance. Mimāmsā thus came to contribute, not so much to the preservation of Vedic sacrificial activities, as to the myth that all norms emanated from a superhuman source" and to the assumption that innovation was decay, and that change must be, not merely for the worse, but an infringement of the natural order of things" (Derrett 1973: 27).48
REFERENCES
Texts and Abbreviations
Divy(V) = Divyåvadāna - Edited by P. L. Vaidya. (Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, Darbhanga, 20.)
Darbhanga 1959. DN = Dighanikaya - Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids & J. E. Carpenter. 3 vols. London: Pali Text
Society, 1890-1911. Maha-bh = Patañjali, (Vyakarana-Mahabhasya - Edited by F. Kielhorn. Bombay 1880-85. Manu = Manusmrti - Edited by J. L. Shastri. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1983. Mhbh = Mahabharata - V. S. Sukthankar et al. (eds.), Poona Critical Edition. 19 vols. Poona:
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933-66. Mis = Mimämsäsúrra - Anandāśrama Sanskrit Series, 97. Poona 1973-84. MN = Majjhima-Nikaya - Edited by V. Trenckner & R. Chalmers. 3 vols. London: Pali Text
Society, 1888-99. Sv - Buddhaghosa, Sumarigalavilasini, Dighanikaya-atthakatha - Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids,
J. E. Carpenter & W. Stede. 3 vols. London: Pali Text Society, 1886-1932. TaiS = Taittiriyasamhità - Anandāśrama Sanskrit Series, 42. Poona 1900-08. Tan Vär = Tantravårtrika of Kumärilabhata - Anandāśrama Sanskrit Series, 97. Poona 1973-84. WI = Johannes Bronkhorst & Yves Ramscier, Word Index to the Prasastapädabhâsya. A Com
plete Word Index to the Printed Editions of the Prasastapādabhäsya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994.
Literature
AGRAWAL, D. J. 1985. Mimamsa Uddharana Koša. The Citations from Sabara-bhasya Traced
to their Original Sources. Pune: Vaidika Samsodhana Mandala. AYYAR, A. S. Nataraja 1952. Mimamisa Jurisprudence. The Sources of Hindu Law. (Ganganatha
Jha Research Institute Series, 2.) Allahabad: Ganganatha Jha Research Institute.
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I thank Kiyotaka Yoshimizu for useful criticism.