---
type: Bundle
bundle: mimamsa-dharma
bundle_version: "0.10.0"
title: "Mīmāṃsā-Dharma -- Ritual Injunction, Authorless Authority, and the Language of Action"
description: "OKF v0.10 bundle: the technical vocabulary of Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā, the darśana of Vedic ritual exegesis. Dharma as codanā-lakṣaṇa, the authorless Veda (apauruṣeyatva), the unseen link (apūrva), and a proto-speech-act theory of injunction across the Bhāṭṭa and Prābhākara schools. 25 concepts in 5 tiers + 7 primary-text references, canonical OKF v0.2."
darshana:
  - Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā
timestamp: "2026-07-08"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Mīmāṃsā-Dharma -- Ritual Injunction, Authorless Authority, and the Language of Action

**Bundle v0.10.0 | 25 concepts in 5 tiers | 7 primary-text references | canonical OKF v0.2**

## What This Bundle Does Not Claim

This bundle presents Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā on its own terms, as a rigorous hermeneutics of the Vedic imperative and a realist theory of language and knowledge. It deliberately does **not** frame the school as "ritualism" or "superstition," and it does **not** read its central terms through Abrahamic categories. Mīmāṃsā''s *vidhi* is an injunction analysed as a linguistic force, not a commandment from a legislator; its *apauruṣeyatva* is the authorlessness of the Veda, not divine revelation; its *apūrva* is an unseen causal link, not "merit points." The corrective work lives in the `not:` fields, concept by concept, not in polemic. The bundle is descriptive and non-sectarian: it documents what these concepts mean and how they are mistranslated, and includes no ritual instruction.

## The v0.3 Boundary (read first)

Mīmāṃsā is the **source school** for several terms the corpus already treats in **vedanta-epistemology (v0.3)**: *svataḥ-prāmāṇya* (intrinsic validity), *śabda* as a means of knowing, and the pramāṇas *arthāpatti* and *anupalabdhi*. This is **school-contrast, not duplication**. The pramāṇa mechanics remain in v0.3 and are referenced here, not re-imported. Where a term is genuinely Mīmāṃsā-defining (*svataḥ-prāmāṇya*, Tier 2), it enters this bundle school-scoped to Mīmāṃsā with a reciprocal cross-link to its v0.3 counterpart. We do **not** declare Mīmāṃsā the single "canonical home" of these terms: a school-relative term has no single home, and claiming one would import the flattening the corpus exists to fight.

## Cross-Bundle Warnings

- **dharma-foundation (v0.1) and dharmic-ethics (v0.5):** *dharma* here is the narrow *codanā-lakṣaṇa* definition (known only by injunction), distinct from the general sustaining-order (v0.1) and ethics-as-alignment-with-ṛta (v0.5).
- **karma across bundles:** the ritual act (*yāga*, Tier 4) is a third distinct sense of karma, alongside moral action-and-consequence (dharma-foundation v0.1) and Vaiśeṣika physical motion (nyaya-vaisheshika v0.9).
- **upanishadic-core (v0.6):** *ātman* (Tier 5) is Mīmāṃsā''s plural, real self that persists to enjoy ritual fruit, not the Advaita non-dual Self.
- **nyaya-vaisheshika (v0.9):** *kārya* here is the Prābhākara "to-be-done," not the Nyāya "effect"; *jāti* is the kindred realist universal (*sāmānya*).

## Tier 1 -- The Injunction Engine (CRITICAL AI risk)
| Concept | One-line |
|---|---|
| [dharma](concepts/dharma.md) | dharma as codanā-lakṣaṇa, knowable only through Vedic injunction |
| [codanā](concepts/codana.md) | the impersonal Vedic imperative, not a command from a commander |
| [vidhi](concepts/vidhi.md) | the injunction proper, not a commandment or a statute |
| [niṣedha](concepts/nisedha.md) | the prohibition as an enjoined abstention, not a taboo |
| [arthavāda](concepts/arthavada.md) | praise subordinate to injunction, not literal doctrine |

## Tier 2 -- Unseen Link and Authorless Authority (CRITICAL / HIGH)
| Concept | One-line |
|---|---|
| [apūrva](concepts/apurva.md) | the unseen after-potency linking act to result, not merit-points |
| [apauruṣeyatva](concepts/apauruseyatva.md) | the authorless Veda, not divine revelation |
| [śabda-nityatā](concepts/sabda-nityata.md) | the eternal word manifested, not a noise that lasts forever |
| [autpattika](concepts/autpattika.md) | the inherent word-meaning relation, not a convention |
| [svataḥ-prāmāṇya](concepts/svatah-pramanya.md) | intrinsic, defeasible validity, not blind faith (school-contrast with v0.3) |

## Tier 3 -- Action-Theory, the Two Schools (HIGH)
| Concept | One-line |
|---|---|
| [bhāvanā](concepts/bhavana.md) | the injunction''s productive urging (Bhāṭṭa), not manifestation |
| [niyoga](concepts/niyoga.md) | the binding directive obeyed as duty (Prabhākara), not an incentive |
| [kārya](concepts/karya.md) | the enjoined to-be-done (Prabhākara), not a goal or an effect |
| [adhikāra](concepts/adhikara.md) | eligibility to perform a rite, not authority over others |
| [phala](concepts/phala.md) | the result via unseen potency, not a divine reward or mokṣa |

## Tier 4 -- Ritual Structure and Application (MEDIUM-HIGH)
| Concept | One-line |
|---|---|
| [yāga](concepts/yaga.md) | the enjoined sacrificial act, not worship or magic |
| [aṅga-pradhāna](concepts/anga-pradhana.md) | the accessory-principal (śeṣa-śeṣin) relation, not a prestige ranking |
| [viniyoga](concepts/viniyoga.md) | rule-based application by six graded means, not symbolism |
| [kratvartha-puruṣārtha](concepts/kratvartha-purusartha.md) | for-the-sacrifice vs for-the-person, not selfless vs selfish |
| [nāmadheya](concepts/namadheya.md) | a word that only names a rite, not a magical true-name |

## Tier 5 -- Language and Realist Ontology (MEDIUM)
| Concept | One-line |
|---|---|
| [abhihitānvaya](concepts/abhihitanvaya.md) | words denote singly then connect (Bhāṭṭa sentence-meaning) |
| [anvitābhidhāna](concepts/anvitabhidhana.md) | words denote only as connected (Prabhākara sentence-meaning) |
| [mantra](concepts/mantra.md) | a formula that recalls the rite''s elements, not a magic spell |
| [jāti](concepts/jati.md) | the real universal grounding word-meaning, not a concept |
| [ātman](concepts/atman.md) | the plural realist self, not the Advaita non-dual Self |

## References

Primary texts in `references/`: mīmāṃsā-sūtra (Jaimini), śābara-bhāṣya, ślokavārttika and tantravārttika (Kumārila, Bhāṭṭa), bṛhatī (Prabhākara), śāstra-dīpikā (Pārthasārathi), artha-saṃgraha (Laugākṣi Bhāskara).

*Concept-lock frozen 2026-07-08 (see ../mimamsa-dharma-planning/concept-lock-FROZEN.md). Staged for owner spot-check; nothing folded into the mirror or uploaded (owner-gated).*
