Abstract
This paper examines three commentaries on the Śabdapariccheda in Kumārila Bhaṭṭa’s Ślokavārttika, along with the the seventeenth century Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā work, the Mānameyodaya. The focus is the Mīmāṃsā principle that only sentences communicate qualified meanings and Kumārila’s discussion of a potential counter-example to this claim–single words which appear to communicate such content. I argue that there is some conflict among commentators over precisely what Kumārila describes with the phrase sāmarthyād anumeyetvād, although he is most likely describing ellipsis completion through arthāpatti. The paper attempts both a cogent exegesis and philosophical evaluation of the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā view of ellipsis completion, arguing that there remain internal tensions in the account of ellipsis preferred by the Bhāṭṭa, tensions which are not entirely resolved even by the late date of the Mānameyodaya.
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Abbreviations
- K:
-
Sucarita Miśra, Kāśikā, in the edition Mīmāṃsāślokavārttika of Kumārilabhaṭṭa with Commentary Kāśikā of Sucaritamiśra, ed. V. A. Ramaswami Sastri, 3 parts, Trivandrum Sanskrit Series Nos. 90, 99, 150, Government Press, Trivandrum 1926, 1929, 1943.
- MM:
-
Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa and Nārāyaṇa Paṇḍita, Mānameyodaya, 3rd edition, eds. C. Kunhan Raja and S. S. Suryanarayana Sastri, The Adyar Library and Research Centre, Adyar 2004.
- MS:
-
Jaimini, Mīmāṃsāsūtra, in the edition Śrīmajjaiminipraṇīte Mīmāṃsādarśane, ed. V. Sastri, 7 parts, Samskrita Granthavali 97, Puṇya: Ānandāśram 1929–1934.
- NR:
-
Pārthasārathi Miśra, Nyāyaratnākara, in the edition Ślokavārttikam of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa with the Commentary Nyāyaratnākara of Śrī Pārthasārathi Miśra, ed. G. Jha, Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, Delhi 2009.
- ŚBh:
-
Śabarasvamin, Śabarabhāṣya, for edition, see MS
- ŚV:
-
Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, Ślokavārttika, for edition, see NR.
- TpṬ:
-
Uṃveka Bhaṭṭa, Tātparyaṭīkā, 2nd edition, ed. S.K. Ramanatha Sastri, revised 2nd edition by K.K. Raja and R. Thangaswamy, Madras Library Sanskrit Series 13, University of Madras, Madras 1971.
- TV:
-
Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, Tantravārttika, for edition, see MS.
- VP:
-
Bhartṛhari, Vākyapadīya, ed. K. A. Subramania Iyer, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1983.
- VPV:
-
Vākyapadīyavṛtti, for edition, see VP.
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Keating, M. (Close) the Door, the King (is Going): The Development of Elliptical Resolution in Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā. J Indian Philos 45, 911–938 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-017-9328-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-017-9328-0