Mimamsa, Vedanta etc.

Vishal Agarwal vishalagarwal at HOTMAIL.COM
Tue Dec 28 03:17:46 UTC 1999


1. Mimamsa: The word is used in a technical sense as early as the Vedic
Samhitas. Eg. "Utsrjam notsrjam iti Mimamsante" (Taittiriya Samhita 4.2.6.4
Also the Upanishads. For instance Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6 reads
"Saishandasya Mimamsa bhavati"
In numerous other texts, the 'Brahmavadins' discuss matters related to
rituals (Eg. Numerous times in Aitreya Brahmana) and sprituality (Eg.
"Brahmavadino vadanti: Kim karanam..." Svetasvatara Upanishad 1.1). Were
these the 'proto-Mimamsakas'? See also 'Kashkritsni Mimamsa' mentioned in
Mahabhashya of Patanjali.

2. The word 'Vedanta' is of course attested in the Gita ("I am
'Vedantakrita'") and Upanshads, Eg. "Vedanta vijnana sunischitartha.."
(Mundaka). The followers of Upanishadic doctrines are often termed as
'Aupanishadas' in pre-Samkaran texts (Eg. Harsacharita of Bana Bhatta
written around 605-620 C.E.). Other forum members have already given some
more examples.

3. The word 'Mimamsa' originally might have covered both the 'Karma Mimamsa'
of Jaimini (in 16 Chapters) and the Brahmamimamsa of Badarayana (in 4
chapters). Epigraphic evidence from Tamil Nadu mentions Brahmins subsisting
on 'Bhattavrtti' by studying the Mimamsa of 20 chapters. Sri Ramanuja also
quotes the following from sentence from the Vrtti of Bodhayana: "The
Sariraka forms one text with the doctrine of Jaimini that is contained in 16
chapters." It must be noted that Purva Mimamsa has 16 chapters out of which
the widely prevelant first 12 form the Tantrakanda and the latter 4 form the
Samkarsha Kanda (on which we have extant the Bhashya of Devasvamin/Bhavadasa
etc.)
The following passage of Prapancahrydaya (a text of Malabar) will make
things clearer (paraphrasing from memory):
"Bodhayana wrote a massive Bhashya called 'Krtakoti' on the Mimamsa of 20
chapters. Fearing that those of weak intellect will not be able to master it
and the Bhashya will get lost, Upavarsha abridged this Bhashya somewhat.
Fearing that the Bhashya was still too voluminous, Devasvamin abridged the
Bhashya on first 16 chapters forming the Karma Mimamsa. Bhavadasa also wrote
a brief Bhashya on the Karma Mimamsa. Ignoring the 4 chapters of Samkarsha,
Sabara further abridged the commentary on the Tantra Kanda. Bhatta Kumarila
and Prabhakara wrote their own commentaries on the Sabara Bhashya.
Samkarshana wrote on the Devata Kanda ( = Samkarsha Kanda). Bhagvatpada
(=Samkaracharya), Brahmadatta and Bhaskara wrote their own commentaries on
the Brahmamimamsa with differing viewpoints."

According to Avantisundarikatha of Dandin (~650 C.E.), however, Krtakoti was
the name of Upavarsha and the same was identical with Bodhayana. Manimekhali
too mentions Krtakoti as a scholar of Mimamsa (along with Jaimini and
Vyasa). Bhaskara too (in his Brahmasutra Bhashya 1.1.1 and 2.2.27) too calls
Upavarsha as "Sastrasampradaya pravarttaka". Samskrit lexicons like
Vaijayanti of Yadavaprakasa; Trikandasesa, Kesava Kosha, Sasvata Kosha etc.
also give 'Krtakoti' as synonymns of Upavarsha.

The weight of evidence points to the equation Bodhayana=Upavarsha. (The
relevant section of the Prapancahridaya is anyway full of interpolations as
is clear from the critical apparatus). The Vrtti of Upavarsha certainly
survived upto approximately 1050 C.E. as Kesava quotes it in his Paddhati on
Kausika Sutra 1.8 Around that time, Sri Ramanujacharya had to travel to
Sharada Matha (= Modern Sharadi in Pakistan occuppied Kashmir) to read the
Bodhayanavrtti on the Brahmasutras. However, the Kavindracharya Suchipatra
(Kavindracharya was a contemporary of Shah Jehan) mentions a manuscript of
the same. Also Oppert mentions a manuscript in the Sringeri Matha, and
another in Andhra Pradesh (in the private collection of a Brahmin).

According to traditions preserved in the Kavyamimamsa, Avantisundari katha,
Brihatkatha etc., Upavarsha was a contemporary of Mahapadma Nanda. From
citations in the Sabara Bhashya, it appears that Upavarsha flouted
Patanjali's recommendations in splitting the compound "Dharmajijnasa" which
might indicate Upavarsha's priority to Patanjali.

In this regard, I want to point out that the Purva and Uttara Mimamsas
menion numerous former teachers like Alekhana, Audolomi, Kashakritsna etc.,
and dozens of quotations of the lost works of these predecessors of Jaimini
and Badrayana are encountered in the Kalpasutras. The the specific nature of
the views quoted confirm that these Purvacharyas indeed wrote their own
treatises on Mimamsa before J and Badrayana.

Sankaracharya was definitely before 850 C.E. because a subcommentator of his
Sariraka Bhashya namely Vacaspati Misra, wrote his Bhamati around 850 C.E.
For further information, please refer:

"Life and Thought of Samkaracharya" by G. C. Pande.

Hope all this helps
Regards

Vishal



----Original Message Follows----
From: Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan <Palaniappa at AOL.COM>
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