Karma Mimansa

Author(s): Berriedale Keith
Publisher: Berriedale Keith

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THE KARMA-MIMĀMSĀ
the Buddhist denial of the external world was not really meant to be taken as a serious contradiction of its reality, but to divert men's minds from undue attention to it, and so with other apparently erroneous tenets. In the case of the ritual Sūtras the claim is made by some that they must be treated as true Veda themselves, but this is denied, for they have human authors, and are merely, like Smrtis, based on Vedic authority. In the case of grammar, however, areally interesting discussion is raised on the Sūtra (I, 3, 4-30) by those who deny that it can be made out to rest on Vedic authority, and who go so far as to challenge the validity of the claims of the grammarians to be authoritative.
The argument of these unorthodox persons runs: words like gāvī, in lieu of the grammarians' gauli, for cow are perfectly correct; they are fully expressive, they are percepta able by the ear, they are as eternal as any word is, and no beginning in time for thein can be traced. The science of grammar, too, has no Vedic connection; it differs in no way from the process of explaining vernacular words for everyday use; it does not deal with actions which are the sole business of the Veda; it serves no useful purposes in relation to duty, as we do not need grammar to tell us the meanings of words, nor is grammar the source of usage, since, on the contrary, it rests upon and follows usage. The reply of the Mimämsā is not convincing; it maintains that synonyms are 100 permissible, unless enjoined by Vedic use; as gauh expresses exactly the meaning "cow," any variant of it is wrong and undesirable, and has such power of denotation as it may actually possess, merely because of its similarity to gauh and not in its own right. The science of grammar also is essential to set out in orderly derivation the vast masses of words in the Vedas; moreover, not usage alone, but usage and grammar determine whether a word has the correct form to convey the meaning, and grammar in the last issue is more authoritative than mere usage. That correct words produce, when used, a transcendental result is proved by the fact that the Veda enjoins their use, and forbid of the use of barbarous expressions; moreover, truth leads to supreme bliss, and the use of correct words is truth in speech Fortunately this disquisition does not prevent either Prabhā