Why ‘Mīmāṁsā’?
Mimamsa means ‘thoughtful reflection’ or ‘critical investigation’. In the traditional Indian philosophical value system, Mimamsa is also considered as one of the 6 darshans or strands of Indian Philosophy and each of these darshans represent the unrelenting urge of human beings to inquire and understand the world around and his/her relation with it. This spirit of inquiry, the existence of multiple schools of thoughts and the progressive argumentation among them has been the defining feature of not just Indian philosophy but of the entire Indian culture. With a firm belief in this ever inquisitive tradition of India and its respect to diversity, we at Mimamsa Foundation for Indic Studies (MFIS), wish to contribute to larger discourse in understanding India.
We at Mīmāṁsā firmly believe that studying socio-political, religio-spiritual and historical realities of India needs a specific Indian lens which incorporates contextual, cultural and geographical specificities of the sub-continent. Colonial experiences and a prominent post-colonial scholarship in a way detached Indic studies with these Indian realities. Post-independence, academia in India exhibited a control of a particular kind of group which attempted to conform ‘Indic studies’ to a particular ideological and methodological outlook. Arguably, this approach was borrowed from outside and ignoring the traditional Indian knowledge system, was juxtaposed to Indian realities, often leading to inaccurate understanding of India. We at Mīmāṁsā strive to bring to the fore the authentic, well-researched and objective alternative which is firmly based on Indic Value System to provide a credible narrative for a substantive discourse.
About Mimamsa Project
Mimamsa attempts to provide Bharatiya alternative to the entrenched socio-political, religio-spiritual and historical narrative prominent in academia today. Primarily a bilingual (English and Marathi) forum, it hosts articles, special features, interviews and in-depth analysis from the Domain Scholars. Mīmāṁsā attempts to build a “four-pillared” template to study India and Indian Value system. The four pillars are –
Vijñāna (विज्ञान)
Darśana (दर्शन)
Itihāsa (इतिहास)
Saṁbhāṣā (संभाषा)
All the academic activities and submission in the Mīmāṁsā will be classified according to these ‘four pillars’. We believe that this ‘four-pillared’ analysis provides a competent template to undertake a credible ‘Indic Inquiry.’
Four-Pillars of Indic Inquiry
ii. Darśana (दर्शन): Darśana literally means ‘an instrument of realization.’ This pillar deliberates upon Philosophical, Theological and Spiritual thoughts which were imparted, flourished and practiced in India from time to time.
iii. Itihāsa (इतिहास): Itihāsa literally means “so indeed it was”. This pillar delves into variety of historical narratives about India and brings out authentic and well-researched Indian Perspectives on Indian History.
iv. Saṁbhāṣā (संभाषा)): Saṁbhāṣā literally means a ‘discourse’ or a ‘discussion.’ This pillar inquires into political, social and economic strands of the Indian thinking and brings to light some of the prominent debates, discourses and propositions emanating from the Indian thinkers or having direct resonance to Indian realities.