Determining the meaning of Vedic Text


	Determining the meaning of Vedic Text
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Written by Sri Swami Chandrashekarendra Saraswati

The Vedas, as we know, contain "vakyas" and "adhyayas". How are we to know their content, their meaning? What must we do to find out their purpose, their message? The rules according to which the Vedas are to be interpreted are contained in the Mimamsa sastra. If the Vedas are the law, Mimamsa is the law of interpretation. As I said before, when the government enacts a great number of laws, doubts arise as to their intention and application. So to interpret these, the government enacts another law. Mimamsa is such a law with reference to the Vedas. It formulates certain methods to discover the meaning of the Vedic texts. Six methods are mentioned: upakarma-upasamhara, abhyasa, apurvata, phala, atharvada, upapatti. According to Mimamsa the meaning, the intent, of the Vedic Mantras may be understood by applying these methods

The reader is requested to refer to chapter 34, Part Five, in which these six methods of Mimamsa sastra are dealt with.