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of his Bhasya on PMS I.1.1, the Mimamsaka Sabara links it to the Vedic command, "One must study one's proper portion [of the Veda]" (svadhyayo 'dhyetavyah);
30he argues that after one has properly received and learned one's appropriate texts, only then (atha)can one begin the necessarily subsequent (though optional) process of inquiring into the meaning of the memorized texts, in order to gain a perfect understanding of dharma. The vast PMS Text is a justifiable enterprise because it builds on that earlier memorization yet adds to it the new component of complete understanding.31 |
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In probable imitation of Sabara, Sankara asks if there can be any precedents to the Advaita desire to know. It is evident, he says, that the desire for Brahman has no expected or necessary precedents; whichever prerequisites one might name can never guarantee that the desire to know actually arises. In particular, it is erroneous to propose prerequisites which demand continuity with the Vedic tradition, if this means the prior performance of ritual, or a knowledge of how to perform ritual, or even a knowledge of Mimamsa as a "metaknowledge" of ritual,32 since the desire to know has as its object none of these, but Brahman alone. |
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Since Brahman is an existent reality, we also cannot presume that the desire to know Brahman stands in immediate correlation with a desire to read texts. Indeed, Sankara insists that the desire to know cannot be equated with an inquiry which can be inaugurated, for the act of inquiry requires as its prior motivation the desire to know. |
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He thus privileges "jijñasa" as desire, and relegates to second place "jijñasa" as inquiry, including that inquiry which is reading. This insistence on the unprecedented originality of the desire to know is sensible, and is verifiable from ordinary experience; one cannot predictably instigate in someone the desire to know, nor can one determine precisely the sufficient grounds for this desire. It is also evident that the desire to know Brahman does not depend upon the desire to know how to perform rituals, and that wanting to perform rituals is not the same as wanting to read texts about Brahman. It also serves to distinguish Advaita as the Uttara Mimamsa from the prior (Purva) |
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