1.2.34
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.2.34
अविद्यमानवचनात्
avidyamānavacanāt
The line
Because it states what is not present.
नेपालीमा
अहिले उपस्थित नभएको कुरा भन्ने भएकाले।
Where it sits
The mantra and the utterance-only claim are still in force. Avidyamāna (अविद्यमान) contrasts with vidyamāna (विद्यमान) in 1.1.4, the present thing perception grasps. Here the missing thing is a ritual object that would match the words.
Split: avidyamāna-vacanāt (अविद्यमान-वचनात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| avidyamāna-vacanāt (अविद्यमान-वचनात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because of a statement of what does not exist |
The phrases
What helps the rite would have to be made known, if meaning were the help. Nothing on the ground has the shape these mantras name. 'Four horns' speaks of four horns, three feet, two heads, seven hands. No implement of the offering is an animal of that form.
If the point were denoting, there would be nothing for it to denote. For a mere utterance, the mantra still fits. 'Do not harm me,' said where no harm is under way, is the same kind of sentence.
Sanskrit in this line
Avidyamāna (अविद्यमान) is the present participle of vid with a, not existing. Vacana is the statement of that. The compound is one ablative.
Say it back
Use the four horns: say why the objector thinks a mantra cannot be there to name a thing that is not in the rite.
Next
1.2.35. The words address grass and stones, which cannot be informed.