1.1.31
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.31
परं तु श्रुतिसामान्यमात्रम्
paraṃ tu śrutisāmānyamātram
The line
But the other point is only the general character of the sacred wording.
नेपालीमा
तर अर्को कुरा पवित्र शब्दको सामान्य स्वरूप मात्र हो।
Where it sits
Param is the remaining appeal to named men, from 1.1.28. Tu continues the reply of 1.1.29. Śruti (श्रुति) is the Vedic sentence. The word's priority stays in force, so these words have meanings that do not wait on a composer's life.
Split: param (परम्) + tu (तु) + śruti-sāmānya-mātram (श्रुति-सामान्य-मात्रम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| param (परम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the other point, the supposed personal name |
| tu (तु) | indeclinable | but |
| śruti-sāmānya-mātram (श्रुति-सामान्य-मात्रम्) | nominative singular, neuter | only the general character of sacred wording |
The phrases
Prāvāhaṇi (प्रावाहणि) was heard as a patronymic, the son of a man Pravāhaṇa (प्रवाहण). The parts do not force that. Pra is used for intensity. Vah means to carry, to bring along. The ending that marks a descendant also marks the agent of a verb. One who carries something forward can be called by that form.
Babara imitates a sound. The two words then name a lasting meaning, a man spoken of by what he does and by a sound, not a date after which the book begins. What looked like a historical signature is only śruti (श्रुति) of the ordinary kind, words with meanings. Mātra (मात्र) limits it to that.
Sanskrit in this line
The pāṭha (पाठ) writes parantu as one string. The line is param tu. Mātra (मात्र) means merely. Sāmānya (सामान्य) is a common character, here the character of meaningful sacred wording.
Say it back
Say why Prāvāhaṇi (प्रावाहणि) need not be read as somebody's son, and why that leaves the text without an author's date.
Next
1.1.32. Once the meanings are in place, the sentence is applied by its connection with the act.