1.1.30
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.30
आख्या प्रवचनात्
ākhyā pravacanāt
The line
The name comes from expounding.
नेपालीमा
नाम व्याख्याबाट आउँछ।
Where it sits
This answers puruṣākhyāḥ (पुरुषाख्याः) in 1.1.27. Ākhyā (आख्या) is that branch name. Śabdapūrvatva (शब्दपूर्वत्व) from 1.1.29 stays in force: the words taught are prior to the teacher who is named for teaching them.
Split: ākhyā (आख्या) + pravacanāt (प्रवचनात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| ākhyā (आख्या) | nominative singular, feminine | the name |
| pravacanāt (प्रवचनात्) | ablative singular, neuter | from expounding, because of teaching and reciting |
The phrases
The name Kāṭhaka (काठक) was said to mark a maker. It does not. People can bear a name for a work they did not compose, if they expounded it with distinction.
Memory puts it this way. Vaiśampāyana (वैशम्पायन) studied every branch. Kaṭha (कठ) taught this one branch and not the others. Among men who knew many branches, the man who knew this one thoroughly is a fit mark for its name. The name comes from pravacana, the work of reciting and teaching. It does not come from authorship.
Sanskrit in this line
Pravacana is recitation and instruction. The ablative gives the source of the ākhyā (आख्या).
Say it back
Gloss ākhyā (आख्या) as the branch name, and pravacana as teaching, not composition. Kaṭha (कठ) taught the branch. He is not thereby its author.
Next
1.1.31. A personal-looking name is still only Vedic wording.