1.3.18
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.3.18
लिङ्गाभावाच् च नित्यस्य
liṅgābhāvāc ca nityasya
The line
And there is no permanent mark by which these rites would be restricted.
नेपालीमा
र यी कर्मलाई सीमित गर्ने नित्य चिन्ह छैन।
Where it sits
ca adds this to the seen family usage of 1.3.17. nityasya is the mark that would have had to last. The regional names of 1.3.15 are still what one is refusing to restrict. śuklo (शुक्लो) hotā (होता) is direct text and is not this mark.
Split: liṅga-abhāvāt (लिङ्ग-अभावात्) + ca (च) + nityasya (नित्यस्य)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| liṅga-abhāvāt (लिङ्ग-अभावात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because of the absence of a mark |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and |
| nityasya (नित्यस्य) | genitive singular, neuter | of a permanent one |
The phrases
Why not a restriction by a mark? A heard line does say the hotṛ (होतृ) is fair. That is a different case. It is direct text.
There is no permanent mark of the men who keep these rites, such that the mark continues just as it is seen. Not every man who is dark, tall, and red-eyed performs the Āhnīnaibuka (आह्नीनैबुक) group. Men without that look perform it too. So a mark does not fix the rite to a region or a body.
Sanskrit in this line
liṅgābhāvāt (लिङ्गाभावात्) before ca is heard as liṅgābhāvāc (लिङ्गाभावाच्). nityasya is genitive and depends on liṅga (लिङ्ग) inside the compound's sense: a mark that is permanent is what is absent. Śabara (शबर) says the sūtra (सूत्र) answers the question why the restriction does not come from a mark.
Say it back
Say that dark, tall, and red-eyed does not decide who performs the southern rites, and that the fair hotṛ (होतृ) is a heard line of its own.
Next
1.3.19. A regional name comes from living in a place, and it does not fix the rite.