Thinker · TH-0340
Prabhākara
Prabhākara was a Mīmāṃsā philosopher, active around the seventh century CE, whose commentary on Śabara's commentary to the Mīmāṃsā Sūtra founded one of the…
प्रभाकर
Also known as Prabhakara, Prabhākara Miśra, Guru
fl. c. 7th century CE · India
Traditions: Indian
Schools: Mimamsa
Prabhākara was a Mīmāṃsā philosopher, active around the seventh century CE, whose commentary on Śabara's commentary to the Mīmāṃsā Sūtra founded one of the school's two main lines, rival to that of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa. Little is known of his life; the traditional story that he was Kumārila's pupil is legendary. His school developed distinctive theories of how the Veda commands, how sentences mean and how error arises.
Key ideas
- The Veda's authority lies in its injunctions, whose primary sense is what is to be done.
- Words convey meaning only as already connected within a sentence.
- Error is not a false cognition but a failure to discriminate between two true cognitions.
- Every cognition reveals itself, its object and its knower together.
Major works
- Bṛhatī (commentary on Śabara's Bhāṣya)
- Laghvī (largely lost)
In the conversation
- Question One source of knowledge, two, four, five or six? Why Indian schools argued over the count
- Discussion A scripture with no author: what Mīmāṃsā does to the intention debate