Mimamsasutra 42.2.3-3

42.2.3-3

brūmaḥ- na tāvadbahiḥ pāṭhaḥ pradhānakarmatvaṃ kalpayituṃ śaknoti| bhūmiradhikaśuṣkeṣṭinyāyena prayogapāṭavāya gānādhyayanopapatteḥ| yathā bhūmiradhiko bhūmau rathamālikhyābhyāsaṃ karoti, yathā vā chātraḥ śuṣkeṣṭyā prayogapāṭavaṃ saṃpādayati, tadvat| nāpi- guṇakarmatve prayojanābhāvātpradhānakarmatvam- iti vācyam| gānena saṃskṛtaiṛgakṣaraiḥ stutisaṃbhavāt| ’ājyaiḥ stuvate’ ’pṛṣṭhaiḥ stuvate’ iti stutividhānāt| tasmāt- ṛgakṣarāṇāṃ svaraviśiṣṭatvākārābhivyaktirdṛṣṭaṃ prayojanamityadṛṣṭasyākalpanīyatvādgānaṃ saṃskārakarma ||

We reply: Recitation outside cannot establish its being a primary action, because the study of singing is accounted for as serving proficiency in performance, according to the principle of the earth-charioteer and the dry sacrifice—just as an earth-charioteer practices by drawing a chariot on the earth, or just as a student achieves proficiency in performance through a dry sacrifice, so it is here. Nor should it be said that it is a primary action because there is no purpose if it is a subordinate action; for praise is possible by means of the verses' syllables refined by the singing, since praise is enjoined in: "They praise with the Ājya [stotras]," "They praise with the Pṛṣṭha [stotras]." Therefore, because the manifestation of the form of the verse syllables qualified by notes is the visible purpose, and an invisible result is not to be posited, singing is an act of refinement.