Mimamsasutra 98.2

98.2

ṛtvijo vṛṇīte; vṛtā yajanti; devayajanam adhyavasyantīti. nātra vidhir gamyate vartamānakālapratyayanirdeśāt. na cātra vākyaśeṣaḥ stāvako 'sti. tasmād apramāṇam. yaś cādara uktaḥ, sa nāntarīyakatvād vedavākyamiśrasamāmnānāt. yat tu śrutir iti naitat, arthavādatvāt. katham arthavādaḥ. vidhyantaraṃ hy asti - āgneyo 'ṣṭākapāla iti. atrācāryo vedo 'bhipretaḥ, ācinoty asya buddhim iti. yad vācāryavacanaṃ [73] pramāṇaṃ tadapekṣam. kataratat. yat pramāṇagamyam.

"He chooses the priests; chosen, they sacrifice; they settle upon the place of sacrifice." No injunction is understood here, because the expression has a present-tense suffix. Nor is there any supplementary statement here that is laudatory. Therefore, it is not an authoritative means of knowledge. And as for the respect that was mentioned, that is due to its being an inseparable accompaniment through being recited intermingled with Vedic sentences. But as for the claim that it is direct scriptural statement, this is not so, because it is an explanatory passage. How is it an explanatory passage? For there is another injunction: "The cake on eight potsherds belongs to Agni." Here, by "teacher", the Veda is intended, in the sense that "it builds up (ācinoti) his intellect." Or rather, the statement of the teacher is an authoritative means of knowledge with reference to that. To which [statement]? That which is understood through a means of valid knowledge.