Saturday, November 26, 2011

Mimamsa

An Introduction of Mimamsa
The first major orthodox philosophical system to develop was Purva Mimamsa. The other one to follow was the Uttar Mimamsa. The orthodox systems accept the authority of the Vedas.
The Sanskrit words 'mimamsa means a ‘revered thought’. The word is originated from the root ‘man’ who refers to ‘thinking’ or ‘investigating’. The word 'mimamsa' suggests "probing and acquiring knowledge" or critical review and investigation of the Vedas".
Each of the Vedas is considered to be composed of four parts: The Samhitas, the Brahmanas, theAranyakas and the Upanishads. The first two parts are generally focused on the rituals and they form the Karma-kanda portion of the Vedas. The latter two parts from the Jnana-kanda (concerned with knowledge) portion of the Vedas.
Purva-Mimamsa is based on the earlier (Purva = earlier) parts of the Vedas.
Uttar-Mimamsa is based on the later (Uttar = later) parts of the Vedas.
Purva-Mimamsa is also known as Karma Mimamsa since it deals with the Karmic actions of rituals and sacrifices. Uttar-Mimamsa is also known as Brahman Mimamsa since it is concerned with the knowledge of Reality. In popular terms, Purva-Mimamsa is known simply as Mimamsa and Uttar-Mimamsa as Vedanta.Jaimini is credited as the chief proponent of the Mimamsa system. His glorious work is Mimamsa-Sutra written around the end of the 2nd century A.D.  Mimamsa-Sutra is the largest of all the philosophical Sutras. Divided into 12 chapters, it is a collection of nearly 2500 aphorisms which are extremely difficult to comprehend.
Earlier scholars wrote commentaries on Mimamsa-Sutra. Unfortunately they are lost with the passage of time. The earliest available commentary is Sabarasvamin’s Sabara-bhasya, which is still the authoritative basis of all subsequent works on Mimamsa. Renowned scholars Kumarila Bhatta and Prabhakara independently wrote their commentaries on Sabara-bhasya. Prabhakara was a student of Kumarila Bhatta. However, they differed, to some degree, on the interpretation of  Sabara-bhasya and wrote separate commentaries. (Mandan Mishra, the erudite scholar, was a follower of Kumarila Bhatta. He also wrote a commentary, but at a later stage he changed his thinking and became a disciple of Shamkaracharya.)
This system out rightly accept the Vedas as the eternal source of ‘revealed truth.’ Thus though it differs from the earlier four philosophical systems (Vaisheshika, Nyaya, Samkhya, Yoga which neither accept nor reject the authority of the Vedas), a great chunk of Mimamsa philosophy is derived from the Vaisheshika-Nyaya duo.
Mimamsa system attaches a lot of importance to the Verbal testimony which is essentially the Vedic testimony. Jaimini accepts the ‘Word” or the ‘Shabda’ as the only means of knowledge. The ‘word’ or the ‘Shabda’ is necessarily the Vedic word, according to Jaimini. This system strongly contends that the Vedas are not authored by an individual. Since they are ‘self-revealed’ or ‘apaurusheya’, they manifest their own validity.
The system is a pluralistic realist. It endorses the reality of the world as well as that of the individual souls. The soul is accepted as an eternal and infinite substance. Consciousness is an accidental attribute of the soul. The soul is distinct from the body, the senses and the mind. Though Kumarila Bhatta and Prabhakara differ on issues like the self, the soul and it attribute. The earliermimamsakas do not give much importance to the deities. Hence they do not endorse God as the creator of the universe. But later mimamsakas show a bent towards theism.
This system has a profound faith in the Vedas.  The system supports the law of karma. It believes in the Unseen Power or ‘apurva’. Apart from accepting the heaven and the hell, the system supports the theory of liberation.

ಪೂರ್ವಮೀಮಾಂಸಾ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೋತ್ತರರೂಪದ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ನಕಲು



1. What is pUrva mImAmsA (PM)?

"pUrva" means "antecedent", and "mImAmsA" means examination. So "pUrva
mImAmsA" means "Examination of the antecedent (portions of the Veda)".
The Veda consists of four parts: saMhita, brAhmaNa, AraNyaka,
upanishhad. PM studies the first three parts which are commonly known
as "karma kANDa". The last part, the upanishhad, is known as "GYAna
kANDa", and is studied as "uttara mImAmsA" or VedAnta.

2. What is the fundamental enquiry of PM?

Questions such as: 'Is there a right or wrong way to act?', 'What are
the means of knowing right action from wrong action?', 'What is good
and evil?', etc. are studied by a branch of philosophy called 'Ethics'.
PM can be best construed of as "Vedic Ethics". Thus PM is essentially
an enquiry into the nature of dharma (Duty/Morality/Virtue), and
answers ethical and moral questions from the Vedic viewpoint.

3. Why study PM?

There are at least two motivating factors to the study of PM on this
list:
(1) The chief pUrvapaksha (objection) to Shankaran VedAnta is PM. It is reasonable that without understanding the pUrvapaksha, it would be
impossible to properly understand the siddhAnta (conclusion).
(2) Non-sannyAsins are not really qualified to study VedAnta, and can
(and ought to) only study PM, which is considered a stepping stone to
studying VedAnta.

4. How does PM fit into the practical aspect of advaita VedAnta?

The goal of the Vedas is Self-realization. This can be achieved only by
a study of VedAnta, which demands pre-requisites of the student, which
are: viveka  (discrimination - between the permanent and transient),
vairAgya (dispassion - to objects that are transient), shhaT-sampat
(six virtues, which are - shama (calmness), dama (Self-restraint),
uparati (Self-withdrawal), titikshA (forbearance), shraddhA (Conviction - in the way), samAdhAna (self-settledness)), and mumukshutva (Yearning for Liberation). If one does not possess the pre-requisites, then one is ineligible to study VedAnta (such study will not lead to Self-realization), and ought to practice dharma in order to develop therefore said qualities. The practice of dharma is aided by a thorough study of dharma, which forms the subject matter of PM.

5. What are the texts, and who are the proponents of PM?

The primary text of PM is Jaimini's "pUrva mImAmsA sUtra" (JPMS). Along with BAdarAyaNa's "Brahma sUtra", the two books constitute the first exegeses of the Vedas - of the karma kANDa and GYAna kANDa portions respectively. Jaimini and BAdarAyaNa were undoubtedly contemporaries, as revealed by the fact that JPMS 1.1.5 refers to BAdarAyaNa while Brahma sUtra 1.3.31 refers to Jaimini. Tradition believes that Jaimini was a disciple of BAdarAyaNa.

The authoritative commentary on JPMS is by ShabarasvAmin, on which two
sub-commentaries exist by PrabhAkara and KumArila BhaTTa.

The school branches out in this manner:

Jaimini (founder)
|
|-->ShabarasvAmin
|
|-->PrabhAkara
|
|-->KumArila BhaTTa (key proponent)
|
|-->Sucharita Mishra
|
|-->PArthasArathi Mishra
|
|-->Someshvara BhaTTa

The most important and key proponent of PM is traditionally considered
to be KumArila BhaTTa, whose vArttika consists of three parts:
(1) shlokavArttika (1.1 of Jaimini), which gives the fundamentals of
dharma - what it is and how it can be known, what the differences are
between PM and the other schools, various PM theories on Self, world,
etc. I will be using this extensively.
(2) tantravArttika (1.2 - 3.8 of Jaimini) deals heavily with arguments
against the Buddhists in defense of the Vedas, questioning modes of
conduct such as wine-drinking, when and where to perform a Vedic rite,
etc. I will only make peripheral use of this text.
(3) tuptikA (remaining chapters 4-12 of Jaimini), which is "very
advanced" vaidika dharma, such as the relationship between
mantra-deity-yaGYa, how a particular Vedic rite (such as the ashvamedha yaGYa) should be performed, etc.

Monday, November 07, 2011

ಬೆಳಗು




ಬೆಳಗಾಗಿ ನಾನೆದ್ದು......
-
ಜಾನಪದ

ಕೂಸು ಇದ್ದ ಮನಿಗೆ ಬೀಸಣಿಕೆ ಯಾತಕ
ಕೂಸು ಕಂದಮ್ಮ ಒಳ-ಹೊರಗ
ಕೂಸು ಕಂದಮ್ಮ ಒಳ-ಹೊರಗ ಆಡಿದರ
ಬೀಸಣಿಕೆ ಗಾಳಿ ಸುಳಿದಾವ

ಬೆಳಗಾಗಿ ನೆನೆದ್ದು ಯಾರ್ ಯಾರ ನೆನೆಯಾಲಿ
ಎಳ್ಳು ಜೀರಿಗೆ ಬೆಳಿಯೋ ಭೂಮಿತಾಯಿ
ಎದ್ದೊಂದು ಗಳಿಗೆ ನೆನೆದೇನು

ತೊಟ್ಟಿಲ ಹೊತ್ಕೊಂಡು ತವರ್ಬಣ್ಣ ಉಟ್ಕೊಂಡು
ಅಪ್ಪ ಕೊಟ್ಟೆಮ್ಮೆ ಹೊಡ್ಕೊಂಡು! ತೌರೂರ
ತಿಟ್ಟಹತ್ತಿ ತಿರುಗಿ ನೋಡ್ಯಾಳೋ

ಹೆಣ್ಣುಮಕ್ಕಳ ಕಳುಹಿ ಹೆಂಗಿದಿ ನನ ಹಡೆದವ್ವಾ
ಹನ್ನೆರಡಂಕನ ಪಡೆಸಾಲಿ
ಹನ್ನೆರಡು ಅಂಕನ ಪಡಸಾಲಿ ಒಳ ಹೊರಗ
ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಉಲವಿಲ್ಲ

ಆಡಿ ಬಾ ನನ ಕಂದ
ಅಂಗಾಲ ತೊಳದೇನ
ತೆಂಗಿನ ಕಾಯಿ ತಿಳಿ ನೀರು
ತೆಂಗಿನ ಕಾಯಿ ತಿಳಿ ನೀರ ತಕ್ಕೊಂಡು
ಕಂದಮ್ನ ಪಾದ ತೊಳದೇನ...

ಬೆಳಗಾಗಿ ನಾನೆದ್ದು ಯಾರ್ ಯಾರ ನೆನೆಯಾಲಿ
ಎಳ್ಳು ಜೀರಿಗೆ ಬೆಳಿಯೋ ಭೂಮಿತಾಯಿ
ಎದ್ದೊಂದು ಗಳಿಗೆ ನೆನೆದೇನು

ಮಣ್ಣಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಟ್ಟೋಳೆ ಮಣ್ಣಾಲಿ ಬೆಳೆವೋಳೆ
ಎಣ್ಣೇಲಿ ಕಣ್ಣಾ ಬಿಡುವೋಳೆ ಜಗಜ್ಯೋತಿ
ಸತ್ಯಾದಿಂದುರಿಯೆ ನಮಗಾಗಿ

ಕಲ್ಲು ಕೊಟ್ಟವ್ವಾಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಭಾಗ್ಯವು ಬರಲಿ
ಪಲ್ಲಕ್ಕಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಗ ಬರಲಿ ಮನೆಗೆ
ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಮುಡಿಯೊ ಸೊಸೆ ಬರಲಿ

ಕಲ್ಲಮ್ಮ ಮಾತಾಯಿ ಮೆಲ್ಲಮ್ಮ ರಾಗೀಯ
ಜಲ್ಲ ಜಲ್ಲನೆ ಉದುರಮ್ಮ ನಾನಿನಗೆ
ಬೆಲ್ಲದಾರತಿಯಾ ಬೆಳಗೇನಾ

ಬೆಳಗಾಗಿ ನಾನೆದ್ದು ಯಾರ್ಯಾರ ನೆನೆಯಾಲಿ
ಕಲ್ಲು ಕಾವೇರಿ ಕಪನೀಯಾ ನೆನೆದರೆ
ಹೊತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಪಾಪ ಪರಿಹಾರ
ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಂಪದ Kannada Sampada