Purva Mimamsa
Mimamsa ( Sanskrit : discussion), also Mimansa, belongs to the six classical systems of Indian philosophy . The Mimamsa school is one of the brahminic systems that recognize the Veda as the highest authority and discuss the meaning of sacred words. In its origins it represents a ritual science that endeavored to give a uniform interpretation of the information about the ceremonies to be performed, which was scattered in the texts of the Vedas, and thus to establish binding rules for both the deed ( karma ) and for religious duties . The basic text is a summary of such rules and was laid down in the Mimamsa Sutra of Jaimini, probably between AD 200 and 300. Since these discussions refer to the anterior or earlier (pûrva) part of the Upanishads , they are also referred to as Purva Mimamsa .
The influence of the Mimamsa in the daily life of the practicing Hindu is great. All rituals, ceremonies and religious laws were influenced by the Mimansa.
Mimamsa scriptures
Around the 5th century BC Heterodox teachings appeared to Christ in Hinduism that compromised the authority of the Veda . The Vedic priests then began to look for contradictions and inconsistent statements in the scriptures and to solve these problems. The exegetical Mimamsa teachings therefore emerged during this time.
The basis of the Mimamsa teachings is Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutra. In this sutra the Vedas are presented as eternal and as the only authority, probably also in response to non-Vedic teachings such as Buddhism .
Jaimini explains the Dharma in the Mimamsa Sutra , which is exclusively constituted by the Vedas. The Vedas are for him the eternal word that means knowledge of the Dharma.
Commentators then laid out Jaimini's work, one of the oldest commentaries comes from Shabara, who is said to have written it around the 5th century AD. Older commentaries mentioned in the Mimamsa scriptures have not survived.
Shabara's comment refers to idealistic schools of Buddhism and tries to displace the influences of Buddhism. In contrast to the Buddhist teachings, he sees the soul as permanent and real.
Shabara's comment was then further commented on and thus brought about the philosophical developments of the Mimamsa school. Kumarila Bhatta (7th century) is considered one of the most important philosophers of the Mimamsa school. He wrote several commentaries on Shabara's Commentary on the Mimamsa Sutra: Shlokavartika , Tantravartika, and Tuptika . His intention was to counter the growth of Buddhism. He himself had detailed knowledge of Buddhism.
Another comment on Shabara's commentary, Brhati , comes from Prabhakara (7th century), which led to the establishment of two Mimamsa schools, the Bhatta school and the Prabhakara school, which, due to the differences in commentary, had different teachings .
In turn, important philosophers of the Bhatta school wrote commentaries on Kumarila Bhatta's commentaries. These philosophers were Parthasarathi Mishra (10th century), Sucarita Mishra (10th century), Someshvara Bhatta (12th century) and Khandadeva (17th century). In the Prabhakara school, Shalikanatha Mishra (9th century) wrote an important commentary on Prabhakara's commentary.
Mimamsa teachings
The Mimamsa teachings are considered close to atheism as the Veda is seen as the eternal principle. The Vedas are considered to be without a creator and without an author. Jaimini still referred to Vedic gods, but no supreme deity was accepted by him.
Kumarila Bhatta, on the other hand, represented an overt atheism in that he negated the existence of God and its necessity. A third Mimamsa school, Seshvara-Mimamsa, whose founder Murari Mishra lived in the 11th century, however, assumed an existing god.
Since the Mimamsa school tried to consolidate the Vedas as authority, the traditions and the Dharma, different teachings emerged from it: the school related to epistemology , metaphysics , philosophy of language and teachings on the meaning of language, therefore Mimamsa also became Vakyashastra (theory the language).
The Bhatta school started from the following ontology : Dravya, Samanya, Karma , Guna , Abhava (substance, property, action, quality, negation).
The Prabhakara school added four categories of existence to this ontology and did not recognize the negation. The added four categories are Sadrishya, Samkhya , Samavaya and Shakti (likeness, number, inherence and power).
Kumarila divided correct knowledge into the following categories: Pratyaksha, Anumana, Shabda, Upamana, Arthapatti, Anupalabdhi (cognition, deduction, literal statement, comparison, probability or presumption, non-recognition).
Prabhakara, on the other hand, assumed that non-existence was not an existing category of existence and therefore rejected non-knowledge.
Findings are considered true by Kumarila as long as the cause of the knowledge is not flawed or other findings contradict it.
Since Mimamsa regards the Vedas as eternal, it follows that letters, words, language, the meaning of the word, and the relationship between words and the meaning are also seen as eternal. Insights that result from the eternal Veda are also to be regarded as true.
The meaning of the Mimamsa school in Indian philosophy derives from the fact that Mimamsa assumes an inner validity and expressiveness of knowledge, a doctrine that has also spread outside the Mimamsa school.
See also
literature
- Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson, Michael York (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge, London 2008
- Helmuth von Glasenapp : The philosophy of the Indians. An introduction to their history and teachings. Kröner, Stuttgart 1949
- Otto Strauss: Indian Philosophy. Reinhardt, Munich 1924.