Mimamsa Philosophy

Mimasha is one of the six Hindu philosophical darsanas or viewpoints. Jaimimi, an ancient sage, is believed to have given a concrete shape to this philosophy. The word Mimamsa refers to contemplate. Thus Mimasha in this regard is to contemplate and investigate over the proper interpretation of the Vedic texts. Because without proper study of Mimasha philosophy, one cannot probably comprehend the essence of the Vedic sentences.

The Mimamsa Sutra describes the different yagyas and what they are for, and elaborates the theory of apurva, which is the mysterious, transcendent power produced by a correctly performed rituals, not through the action of gods.

Kumarilabhatta is also to be credited for bringing Mimasha philosophy to its present state. HisnmbdcmndchHis three books namely ‘Shlokvartik’, ‘Tantravartik’ and ‘Tupitika’ have furthermore aided in the explanation of Mimasha philosophy.

This Hindu darsana is considered to be scientific in many ways as well. It brought forward the idea of the necessity of good conduct in human’s life in order to attain a better life. This idea was forwarded at a time when people blindly devoted their life to God without feeling the need to do good work.

For a person who has the understanding of Mimasha philosophy will view the from a different perspective. Majority of us have the understanding of religion as a mere translation of the word dharma. But the truth is that religion merely stands for a particular sect or majhab whereas dharma encompasses a broader meaning. With changing times, numerous religions have mushroomed around the world. Each one with its own set of rituals, beliefs and practices. People following different religions therefore have prejudices regarding one another’s religion.

The technological advancements have reduced the world into a global village where interaction with people from different walks of life has become inevitable. When we interact with people from different religious background, we cannot help the prejudices from seeping into our minds. This then leads to riots and violence because we always think our religion is superior to others. Such circumstances would have been avoided if had deeper understanding of what religious texts actually tried to convey. Rather, we tend to believe in just one interpretation of a certain person and blindly follow.

Mimasha philosophy believes that all such misunderstandings have mushroomed because we have failed to get the thrust of the religious ideas. Besides, we have forgotten to actually delve into what other people say and simply jump to conclusion. We fail to understand the hidden meanings of every information that is being disseminated to us in this global village. We blindly give into everything and everyone by saying this world has become global and to not give into what everyone is doing will be an act of foolishness.

It is at times like these when we need to take a cue or two from Mimasha philosophy in order to make sense of our existence in this technologically advanced world where one cannot remain untouched by the phenomenon of globalization.