1.3.1
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.3.1
धर्मस्य शब्दमूलत्वादशब्दमनपेक्षं स्यात्
dharmasya śabdamūlatvād aśabdam anapekṣaṃ syāt
The line
Because dharma (धर्म) has Vedic word as its root, what lacks that word is not to be heeded.
नेपालीमा
धर्मको जरो वैदिक शब्द भएकाले त्यो शब्द नभएको कुरा मान्नु हुँदैन।
Where it sits
Dharma from the opening of the book is in force, together with its mark by injunction. No word is carried from the discussion of mantras and praise. This line opens the question of memory and custom.
Split: dharmasya (धर्मस्य) + śabda-mūlatvāt (शब्द-मूलत्वात्) + aśabdam (अशब्दम्) + anapekṣam (अनपेक्षम्) + syāt (स्यात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| dharmasya (धर्मस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of dharma (धर्म) |
| śabda-mūlatvāt (शब्द-मूलत्वात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because of having Vedic word as its root |
| aśabdam (अशब्दम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what is without that word |
| anapekṣam (अनपेक्षम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not to be heeded |
| syāt (स्यात्) | third person singular, optative, of the verb as | it would be |
The phrases
Dharma was marked by injunction, and injunction is Vedic word. A rule with no Vedic word has no root.
People remember many such rules. The eighth-day offering is to be done. The teacher is to be followed. A tank is to be dug. A drinking place is to be set up. The topknot is to be made. The line asks whether these are to be done as dharma (धर्म).
The first view says they are not. A memory of an unseen thing, with nothing that could have made it known, is a confused memory. One does not treat that memory as sound.
Sanskrit in this line
aśabdam (अशब्दम्) and anapekṣam (अनपेक्षम्) are neuter and agree. Before the vowel of aśabdam (अशब्दम्) the final t of śabdamūlatvāt (शब्दमूलत्वात्) is heard as d.
Say it back
Say that a remembered rule with no Vedic root is not heeded, and name the eighth-day offering as the kind of memory in question.
Next
1.3.2. Memory is a means of knowing, because one infers a Vedic text from authors of the same kind.