1001Philosophers

Jaimini Quotes

Jaimini was an Indian philosopher and the founder of the Mimamsa school of orthodox Hindu philosophy, traditionally dated to the third century BC, whose Mimamsa Sutras established the most rigorous tradition of textual hermeneutics in classical Indian thought. Concerned above all with the right interpretation and performance of Vedic ritual, the Mimamsa developed sophisticated theories of language, meaning, and the relation of textual injunction to action that shaped the later Indian philosophy of language as deeply as the work of any school. The quotes below are attributed to Jaimini, organized by topic.

Jaimini on Freedom

  • “He who harms animals has not understood or renounced deeds of sin ...Those who are at peace and who are free from passions do not desire to live at the expense of others.”

    Acharanga Sutra , Jainism religious text, in Humanimal , p. 41

Jaimini on God

  • Attributed to Jaimini:

    “The Veda is the source of dharma, and the analysis of the Veda is the analysis of dharma itself.”

  • Attributed to Jaimini:

    “An injunction has the form of a command; the command of the Veda is the proper object of inquiry.”

  • “Propagate the religion which is a blessing to all creatures in the world .”

    Acharanga Sutra , Jainism religious text, in Humanimal , p. 122

Jaimini on Justice

  • “(He thinks) I have to provide for a mother, for a father, for a sister, for a wife, for sons, for daughters, for a daughter-in-law, for my friends, for near and remote relations, for my acquaintances, for different kinds of property, profit, meals, and clothes. Longing for these objects, people are careless, suffer day and night, work in the right and the wrong time, desire wealth and treasures, commit injuries and violent acts, direct the mind, again and again, upon these injurious doings.”

    Acharanga Sutra , as translated by Hermann Jacobi (1884), 1.2.1

Jaimini on Knowledge

  • “Acharanga Sutra , Jainism religious text, in Humanimal , p. 41”

    He who harms animals has not understood or renounced deeds of sin ...Those who are at peace and who are free from passions do not desire to live at the expense of others.

  • “Acharanga Sutra , Jainism religious text, in Humanimal , p. 122”

    Propagate the religion which is a blessing to all creatures in the world .

  • “Acharanga Sutra , as translated by Hermann Jacobi (1884)”

    Some slay (animals) for sacrificial purposes, some kill (animals) for the sake of their skin, some kill (them) for the sake of their flesh, some kill them for the sake of their blood; thus for the sake of their heart, their bile, the feathers of their tail, their tail, their big or small horns, their teeth, their tusks, their nails, their sinews, their bones; with a purpose or without a purpose. S

  • “Acharanga Sutra , as translated by Hermann Jacobi (1884), 1.2.1”

    (He thinks) I have to provide for a mother, for a father, for a sister, for a wife, for sons, for daughters, for a daughter-in-law, for my friends, for near and remote relations, for my acquaintances, for different kinds of property, profit, meals, and clothes. Longing for these objects, people are careless, suffer day and night, work in the right and the wrong time, desire wealth and treasures, c

  • “Acharanga Sutra , as translated by Hermann Jacobi (1884), 1.2.3”

    All beings are fond of life, like pleasure, hate pain, shun destruction, like life, long to live. To all life is dear.

Read all Jaimini quotes on Knowledge

Jaimini on Life

  • “All beings are fond of life, like pleasure, hate pain, shun destruction, like life, long to live. To all life is dear.”

    Acharanga Sutra , as translated by Hermann Jacobi (1884), 1.2.3

  • “Having acquired it (i.e. wealth), employing bipeds and quadrupeds, gathering riches in the three ways, whatever his portion will be, small or great, he will desire to enjoy it. Then at one time, his manifold savings are a large treasure. Then at another time, his heirs divide it, or those who are without a living steal it, or the king takes it away, or it is ruined in some way or other, or it is consumed by the conflagration of the house. Thus a fool doing cruel deeds which benefit another, will ignorantly come thereby to grief.”

    Acharanga Sutra , as translated by Hermann Jacobi (1884), 1.2.3

Jaimini on Truth

  • Attributed to Jaimini:

    “Words are eternal, and meaning is the bond between word and act.”

  • Attributed to Jaimini:

    “Sentences are wholes; their parts derive their meaning from the whole that contains them.”

Jaimini on Virtue

  • Attributed to Jaimini:

    “What the text commands is to be done; what it merely describes is not.”