Mīmāṃsā

Mimamsa (IAST: Mīmāṃsā) is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation". It is also the name of one of six orthodox (astika) schools of Hinduism. The school is known for its philosophical theories on the nature of dharma, based on hermeneutics of the Vedas. The school was influential and foundational to the vedāntic schools of Hinduism, with the difference that the Mīmāṃsā school (also known as Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā or Karma-Mīmāṃsā) developed and emphasized karma-kāṇḍa (study of ritual actions, early four Vedas), while the Vedānta schools (also known as Uttara-Mīmāṃsā) developed and emphasized jñana-kāṇḍa (study of knowledge and spirituality, later parts of Vedas, like the Upaniṣads).

Mīmāṃsā has several sub-schools, each defined by its epistemology. The Prābhākara sub-school (from Prabhākara Miśra) considered five epistemically reliable means to gaining knowledge - Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāna (inference), Upamāna (comparison and analogy), Arthāpatti (postulation, derivation from circumstances), and Śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts). The Bhāṭṭa sub-school (from Kumārila Bhaṭṭa) added a sixth to its canon of reliable epistemology - Anupalabdhi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof).