Life
Jaimini is the attributed author of the Mīmāṃsāsūtra. The work is usually situated in the last centuries BCE or early centuries CE, with uncertainty about its development. Epic and traditional accounts connect the name to Vedic teaching lineages, but a continuous historical life cannot be securely reconstructed.
Contribution
His inquiry concerns dharma: what ought to be done and how Vedic injunctions establish it. This raises problems about language, context, conflicting passages and the relationship between a general rule and a specific instruction. Ritual interpretation is therefore also a disciplined theory of reading and practical obligation.
Key works
- Mīmāṃsāsūtra
- The foundational text of Purva Mimamsa. Its concise arguments are traditionally studied with Shabara’s commentary and later interpretations.
Legacy
Jaimini’s legacy extends beyond any one ritual prescription. A text can contain statements that appear to pull in different directions; an interpreter must explain their function and relation rather than select whichever sentence is convenient. Later Mimamsa thinkers turn that problem into sophisticated theories of meaning and knowledge.
When two authoritative instructions seem to conflict, what justifies your interpretation?
Sources
- Reference
- Original textSanskrit transliteration
Jaimini: Mīmāṃsāsūtra (opens in a new tab)
GRETIL · Göttingen State and University Library
How to read itSansknet input. Begin at 1.1.1–5 on inquiry, dharma, perception, and the word–meaning relationship. Later schools substantially develop these aphorisms.
- University guideEnglish
Mīmāṃsā Darśana — IGNOU unit 4 (opens in a new tab)
IGNOU · public university, India
How to read itInterpretation, language and duty; a modern teaching resource.