मीमांसादर्शनम्- Mimamsa Philosophy (Purva Mimamsa Sastra and Mimamsa Sutra of Jaimini with Bhasya of Sabarswamin Slokavartika in Set of 4 Volumes)

About the Book Mimamsa Sastra, based on the Vedic texts of rituals, is the record of India's cultural and religious history of several thousand years that has stood against all odds of foreign and internal attacks and invasions. This Sastra provides a strong base for all the Vedic rituals and beliefs that were and are the strong roots of Indian culture. Though Mimamsa deliberations were in vogue even form the Vedic period, it was sage Panini (5th_4th BCE) who recorded all such deliberations and paved a new path of sentence interpretation of Vedic passages. He was followed by Sabaraswamin of the 1 "century CE who has been remembered as the First known Commentator on the Sutra.

Kumarala Bhatta and his works: Kumarila Bhatta of the 620-680 CE Commented on both the Sutra and Bhasyas. His works are Slokavartika (traditionally known as "Tarkapada," or the "section of reasoning" a Commentary in verses on Sabaraswami's Commentary on the first pada of the first chapter of (Panini Sutra), Tantravartlka (Commentary in prose on Sabaraswami's Commentary on Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutras, from the second pada of the first chapter till the eighth pada of third chapter) and the Tuptika ("Short treatise" or a gloss on the remaining nine chapters of (Panini's Mimamsa Sutras).

Hermeneutics, poetics, jurisprudence, and (arguably) historiography are the general subjects in which we find the contribution of Kumarila Bhatta, Svataha pramanya "intrinsic reliability" of the Veda is one of the chief doctrines of Kumarila Bhatta.

Present edition: Taking in view the need of the present generation interested in the study of Mimamsa text along with the Bhasyas and Kumarila's commentaries, it is intended to publish the text with all the commentaries of Kumarila Bhatta at one place.

English Translation of the Sutra: In this edition, a sincere attempt is made to present an English translation of the Sutra alone, as close to the original as possible, without getting into the wild intricacies of the system. At many places, where the earlier translations are found very difficult to understand, the gloss of Sabaraswamin and the commentaries of Kumarila Bhatta are followed to give a clearer meaning.

About the Author Prof. Penna Madhusudan, recipient of Sahitya Academy Award for his Mahakavya Prajnachakshusham and recipient of an honorary D.Litt from the National Sanskrit University, Tirupati is a Sanskrit scholar who has more than 40 books to his credit.

He was the Local Secretary of the 50th session of All India Oriental Conference, Nagpur that celebrated 100th year of AIOC in 2020. He got more than 110 books published during the AIOC under the dynamic leadership of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Shrinivas Varakhedi.

Earlier he published Children literature in Sanskrit in 23 volumes under the able guidance of Prof. Pankaj Chande. Prof. Penna was also the KKSU Nodal Officer during the Indian Science Congress, Mumbai Session, 2015. He worked as KKSU Coordinator for UGC 12(b) Grant, NAAC Accreditation for KKSU etc.

Prof. Penna visited the Netherlands and was the member of team from the Government of India during the World Sanskrit Conference, Vancouver, Canada in 2018. He has been honored with many awards such as Maharashtra Sanskrit sadhana Puraskar, Somanath Trust Gold Medal, Pt. Satawalekar Award, Maharashtra Sewasangh Award and other.

Knower of as many as six languages, including German, Prof. Penna is an acclaimed scholar of Sankhya-Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Sahitya, Vyakarana and Nyaya and is presently serving the Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University as the Dean, faculty of Indian Religion, Philosophy and Culture and also as the Director of Research and Publication.

Preface Mimamsa

The word Mimamsa, derived from the Sanskrit root, Man to reflect or investigate (by the Panini sutra 3-1-6 ) should be understood in the sense of hermeneutical inquiry or a reflection, consideration, profound thought, investigation, examination and discussion. Mimamsa is. found in the Vedas itself in the sense of a thought or an investigation. This Mimamsa Sastra has the entire gamut of Vedic rituals (with all the subtleties) for its subject.

As per the tradition, there is an order in obtaining the sacred knowledge:

First one should study the Vedic scriptures with a qualified teacher.

Then he should inculcate a desire to know the meaning of the Vedic sentences through the study of Mimamsa Sastra, for the sake of Dharma.

He should not immediately enter into the married life without studying the Mimamsa Sastra.

The Vedic commandment as lays stress on studying the Veda scriptures thoroughly, in order to interpret them perfectly. How can a person, not well versed in the Vedic scriptures, ascertain the meaning of the Vedic sentences in the context of Dharma?

Initially, any investigation in any subject was called Mimamsa. But, when the entire execution of the Vedic rituals was to be examined and rules were to be set, the Mimamsa Sastra came into existence. A Mimamsaka has always been regarded as a true scholar of the Vedic wisdom.

Mimamsa is one of the traditional systems of Indian Philosophy called Darsana.

It explains many contexts of the Vedic rituals.

It delineates principles of sentence interpretation of Veda in the context of ancient rituals.

The system of 'Purva Mimamsa' was originally more concerned with the Science of Rituals and its interpretation, than with the exposition of the formal philosophical topics which later on dominated this System.'

Dharma- the objective of Mimamsa Sastra

As Sage Jaimini, the propagator of Mimamsa himself makes clear in the very first sutra of Mimamsa Sastra, the very objective. of this system is to reflect on the essential nature of Dharma as propounded in the Vedas.

This Dharma, when unknown, is the subject matter of Mimamsa and when known it is the purpose. The sabarabhasyam states very clearly that the word Dharma stands for all that is beneficial to the humans, nothing else. And Dharma alone connects the human being with all that is beneficial and auspicious. From this one can understand how misleading are the interpretations of Dharma, often made by the individuals who have no firsthand knowledge of the lofty ideology of this Mimamsa Sastra.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages