Mīmāṃsā (Indian philosophical school)

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Mīmāṃsā is the name of a non-Buddhist philosophical school in ancient India. The term mīmāṃsā means “thoroughgoing analysis or investigation.” The school is commonly divided into two groups, the first of which (pūrvamīmāṃsā, karmamīmāṃsa) focuses on the correct interpretation of the Vedic hymns and rituals, and the second of which (uttaramīmāṃsā, brahmamīmāṃsā, etc.) focuses on the nature of universal reality.[1]

Mīmāṃsā was one of the six schools analyzed in the Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya (Compendium of the Six Views), a work by the sixth century Indian Jain scholar named Haribhadra.[2]

Further reading:

Notes

  1. 84000 glossary, "Mīmāṃsā"
  2. Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya