Understanding Mimamsa: Perspectives and Approaches

This book is devoted to the task of explaining the extended meaning known as Vakyartha according to the Prabhakara school of Purva Mimamsa, the ancient Indian theory of meaning. It is based on the Vakyarthamatrka of Salikanatha Misra, the most celebrated writer of the Prabhakara Mimamsa.It presents a critical and comparative discussion of the central factors of this text, namely Expectation, Merit and Juxtaposition, which are recognised as the causes of deriving and understanding the meanings of words and sentences. The book also explores the Abhihitanvayavada of the Bhatta Mimamsa and the Anvitabhidhanavada of the Prabhakaramimamsa, investigating a number of important issues, including the cause of verbal comprehension, implication, importation, urge and performability.As such, the book will appeal to scholars in the fields of Sanskrit texts, linguistics, literary criticism, philosophy, Indology, and Ancient Indian scriptures.