Mimamsaka
Mimamsaka (Skt. Mīmāṃsaka; Tib. དཔྱོད་པ་བ་, Wyl. dpyod pa ba) — an eternalist tradition of ancient India. The Mimamsaka, or Analysts, are followers of Jaimini. Their school is based on an explanation of the Vedas. They say that only the Vedas are valid, and they practise sacrifice as taught in the Vedas.
There were two distinct systems of this name, both basing themselves on the interpretation of the Vedic texts, the Purva Mimamsaka, the 'Investigation of the Primary' (Skt. Pūrva-Mīmāṃsaka), who are just referred to as Mimamsaka, and the Uttara Mimamsaka, the 'Investigation of the Latter' (Skt. Uttara-Mīmāṃsaka). The latter is better known as the Vedanta school. The Vedas are sometimes said to cover two topics : action (relating to Vedic ritual) and knowledge. The Mimamsaka are said to deal with action and the Vedanta with knowledge. The Mimamsakas deal mainly with the beginning parts of the Vedas, and their foundational text is Jaimini's Purva Mimamsa Sutra (Skt. Purvā Mīmāṃsā Sūtra), dated around the 2nd century BCE.[1]
Notes
- ↑ See Hillary Rodrigues, Introducing Hinduism (New York: Routledge, 2006), 209.