Hermeneutics and Language in Pūrva Mīmāṃsā: A Study in Śābara Bhāṣya

Hermeneutics and Language in Pūrva Mīmāṃsā investigates the relationship between interpretation, language, reality, and meaning in the Śābara Bhāṣya, one of the foundational commentaries of early Pūrva Mīmāṃsā. Othmar Gächter argues that although the term “hermeneutics” derives from Western philosophy, the intellectual concerns associated with it—understanding, interpretation, linguistic meaning, textual authority, and truth—are deeply embedded in the Mīmāṃsā tradition. The study examines Śabara’s distinction between the visible (dṛṣṭa) and invisible (adṛṣṭa) dimensions of reality, including concepts such as heaven, deity, and apūrva, and relates them to the authority and interpretive function of Vedic revelation. The book further analyzes Śabara’s philosophy of language, particularly the nature of śabda, the relation between words and meanings, and the characteristics of Vedic language as beginningless, eternal, authorless, and authoritative. It distinguishes meaningful speech from valid speech and explains how language serves as the central medium through which scriptural meaning is disclosed and understood. The concluding chapters present hermeneutics not merely as a set of technical interpretive rules but as a process through which human beings participate in satyam, or truth. By comparing early Mīmāṃsā insights with modern philosophical hermeneutics, especially the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer, the study demonstrates the continuing relevance of Śabara’s account of language and interpretation to broader philosophical inquiries into meaning, knowledge, and human existence.