1.2.43
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.2.43
अर्थवादो वा
arthavādo vā
The line
Or it is praise.
नेपालीमा
वा त्यो प्रशंसा हो।
Where it sits
Vā (वा) gives arthavāda (अर्थवाद) as the account of the repeated sentence 'he spreads the cake,' which 1.2.31 had called useless. The mantra remains meaningful. Arthavāda (अर्थवाद) is the same office already given to explanatory sentences in 1.2.7.
Split: arthavādaḥ (अर्थवादः) + vā (वा)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| arthavādaḥ (अर्थवादः) | nominative singular, masculine | praise, a commendatory sentence |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or, as the alternative that fits |
The phrases
'Spread wide, spread wide.' The sentence 'he spreads the cake' is heard again for the sake of praise. It is the spreading that is praised: he thereby spreads the sacrificer with offspring and cattle.
The sentence is not an injunction of the mantra, and it is not praise addressed to the mantra as a piece of text. The spreading is already obtained from the mantra's own form, and it is mentioned again in order to praise it. Spreading is excellent when it is done with a mantra of that form. The result named, offspring and cattle, shows how the praise goes. It is not a separate fruit-command. One can say 'he spreads' because the adhvaryu, the priest who handles the materials, says 'spread' by means of the mantra. A man who says 'do' causes the thing to be done.
Sanskrit in this line
Arthavāda (अर्थवाद) is a statement whose point is commendation. Vā (वा) marks it as the reading that replaces the charge of uselessness.
Say it back
Add this role: the sentence after the spreading-mantra praises the spreading of the cake.
Next
1.2.44. A fixed order can be unexplained and the meaning still stand.