Purva Mimamsa Sutras

Ancient Hindu Philosophical text

The Mimamsa Sutra (, Mīmāṁsā Sūtra) or the Purva Mimamsa Sutras (ca. 300–200 BCE), written by Rishi Jaimini is one of the most important ancient Hindu philosophical texts. It forms the basis of Mimamsa, the earliest of the six orthodox schools (darshanas) of Indian philosophy. According to tradition, sage Jaimini was one of the disciples of sage Veda Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata.

The work is divided into twelve adhyayas (chapters), which are further divided into sixty padas (sections).

Over the centuries many commentaries have been written on this text, with the most important being the Śabara Bhāṣya written by Śābara, which is the only extant commentary on all 12 chapters of the Mimamsa Sutras of Jaimini. The major commentaries written on the text, including the Śabara Bhāṣya, were by Kumarila Bhatta and Prabhakara Mishra.

Jaimini, in his Mimamsa Sutra, presents material activity and its results as the whole of reality (vipanam rtam). He, along with later proponents of Karma mimamsa, philosophy teaches that material existence is endless and that there is no liberation. For Mimamsas, the cycle of karma is perpetual, and the best one can aim for is higher birth among the Devas. Therefore, they assert that the primary purpose of the Vedas is to engage human beings in rituals for creating good karma, and consequently the mature soul's prime responsibility is to ascertain the exact meaning of the Vedas' sacrificial injunctions and to execute them.