Mimāṃsā

Mimāṃsā

Mīmāṃsā (मीमांसा), a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" (compare Greek ἱστορία), is the name of an orthodox (Sanskrit: astika) school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas. The nature of dharma is not accessible to reason or observation, and must be inferred from the authority of the revelation contained in the Vedas, which are considered eternal, authorless (apauruṣeyatva), and infallible. The school of Mimamsa consists of both atheistic and theistic doctrines and is not deeply interested in the existence of God, but rather in the character of dharma.

Mīmāṃsā is strongly concerned with textual exegesis, and consequently gave rise to the study of philology and the philosophy of language. Its notion of "speech" (Skt. śabda) as indivisible unity of sound and meaning (signifier and signified) is due to Bhartṛhari (ca. 5th century CE).