Mimansa is a Sanskrit word meaning "reflection" or "revered thought". According to Hindu philosophy, this is one of the six darshans, or ways of looking at the world. The other five darshans are yoga, samkhya, vaisheshika, nyaya and vedanta. Mimamsa is generally considered to be the oldest of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. She had a significant impact on Hindu law.
Teaching name
In another transcription, this philosophical school is called mimamsa. It provides rules for interpreting the early Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas and offers a philosophical rationale for observing Vedic rituals.
It is also called karma mimamsa ("study of action") or purva mimamsa ("preliminary study"). This name is explained by the fact that it is associated with the earliest parts: the Vedas, Samhitas and Brahmanas, which focus on rituals. Another of the six darshans, Vedanta, also has a different name -uttara mimamsa ("late study") because it focuses on the Upanishads, which are the later part of the Vedic scripture.
Another name for mimamsa is karmamarga, as it teaches that karma is the main thing. But here the concept does not have the same meaning as in Vedanta, which speaks of three paths: karma, bhakti and jnana. In Vedanta, karma is not observed for its own sake and is not an end in itself, but is dedicated to Ishwara without any expectation of reward. Therefore karmamarga is the same as karmayoga. It is this view of karma that is expounded in the Bhagavad Gita.
There is no bhakti (emotional attachment) in the philosophy of mimamsa karmamarga. Nevertheless, Vedic rituals create well-being in the world, lead to a disciplined and harmonious social life, and bring inner purity to the performer. Mimamsa considers karma an end in itself; Vedanta sees this as a means to a higher end.
What is learning
The purpose of the Mimamsa school of philosophy is the enlightenment of dharma, which its scholars define as ritual obligations and privileges that maintain harmony for man and the world. The Vedas are considered infallible and therefore have the power to know the dharma.
On a metaphysical level, the mimamsa is a school that believes in the reality of the individual soul and the external world, but postulates that there is no reason to believe that God exists or ever existed. Everything in the universe came and continues to exist through natural processes.
Perception by philosophers
Advaita, or non-duality, to a certain extent agrees with the provisions of mimamsa. She accepts Vedic karma as well as the six pramanas (perceptions or sources of knowledge) defined by Kumarilabhatta. The non-dualism of Shankara, Ramanuja, and the dualism of Madhva are all Vedic doctrines, and all three do not contradict Vedic rituals. While in the first case all six pramanas of mimamsa are accepted, in the second (we are talking about Ramanuja) only three pratyakshas, anumana and Vedas are accepted.
The three leading teachers of Vedanta (Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva) do not completely reject mimamsa, but the paths they blaze go beyond such a view: devotion in the case of Vishistadvaita, Dvata and jnana in the case of Advaita.
Connection with sacred texts
Purva mimamsa is to a certain extent an analysis of the meaning of words, especially the words of the Vedas. There is some difference between the two main concepts, which is that purva mimamsa deals with the study of those parts of the Vedas that deal with Dharma (norms and rules). On the other hand, Vedanta is connected only with those parts that relate to Brahman (the transpersonal absolute, the “soul of the world”).
Dharma is quite simple. It represents the performance of those actions that cause good, and the avoidance of those that cause evil. Thus the task of the mimamsa is to read the sastra. This allows you to determine what actions are allowed or prohibited, which of them are good or bad, and what consequences they will lead to. At the same time, both Mimamsa and Vedanta refer to those texts that are associated with Brahman.
One of the problems is what to do with the Upanishads and other Vedic texts such as mythological stories that do not prescribe or forbid actions. Mimamsa puts them in a category called arthavada (praise or description). They are related to the Dharma because they describe or explain it.
