PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
The name of Maharishi Jaimini is held in high esteem and reverence among the Sanskrit writers of eminence and probably he is held only next to Maharishi Vedavyasa. Jaimini is the disciple of Vyasa, and besides being a writer of various treatises and the Epic Jaimini Bharata, he is the famous author of Poorva Mimamsa Sastra, and these able aphorisms in Astrology called after his name as the JAIMINISUTRAS. The Maharishis, so far as their intellectual development was, concerned, stood altogether on a unique pedestal unapproached by any other authors in the world.
They expanded their intellects not by ordinary study, patient labour and devotion but by the mystic processes of Yoga. Thus expanding their mental vision by a peculiar process still unknown to the greatest scholars of the present day, they were able to grasp the causes and effects of the celestial and terrestrial phenomena with the greatest ease and on. a scale of understanding and comprehension of facts at which the present generations stand surprised and wonderstruck.
Take Maharishi Vedavyasa the great grandson of Vasishta, the grandson of Sakti, the son of Parasara and the father of Maharishi Shuka who is held in the highest esteem by the great Rishis themselves for this piety, Brahmagnana, and unalloyed purity of life. Vyasa has written 18 Puranas including the Mahabharata, enclosing the immortal Bhagavadgita, great Siddhanta after his name on Astronomy, several works on Astrology and the most profound Brahmasutras, called Uttara-Mimamsa.
This colossal collection of literature relating to all branches of human knowledge stands as a monument to the grandeur of his glorious intellect and it will be a real surprise to the cultured public, if any other name in the world could be, compared to this intellectual giant. In addition to all these works, he was able to systematise and put in proper order the Four Vedas and thus earn the most envious title of Vedavyasa or one who put the Vedas in their present form and sequence. Jaimini was a worthy disciple of Vedavyasa and has bequeathed to humanity, many valuable works among which stand foremost Jaimini Bharata, Poorva-Mimamsa and the Jaiminisutras on Astrology.
In the various branches of the Sanskrit Sciences the sutras are a wonder of Sanskrit literature. We do not know if there is any other language in this world, which has anything like the sutras. A sutra may thus be defined as the shortest in form with the largest meaning possible. JAIMINISUTRAS ere said t0 have been composed in eight chapters. Though brief, they contain a large quantity of meaning. Many technicalities are used throughout these sutras and I will try to explain them as best as I could.
In translations from a rich and comprehensive language to a poor and ill-equipped tongue, it is extremely difficult to bring out the force, the dignity, the sweetness, the majesty and the flow of the original language. The translators, however learned they may be and however brilliant their intelligence may be, have to remember the great gulf which separates their intelligence with that of the great Maharishi who is their original author.
At best the translator can only explain and illustrate what he understands and conceives to be the meaning of the original author. It may be the correct interpretation of the author or what may have been understood to be the meaning by the translator. In the case of the works of the Maharishis, I may not be very wrong if I say that none of the commentators or the translators could ever hope to come up to their standard. However, a man can do at best what he honestly knows to be the meaning; and I can assure my readers that in the translation of these difficult sutras I have taken the greatest care to bring out the correct meaning of the Maharishi in his inimitable work the JAIMINISUTRAS. Everyone cannot compose a sutra. A sutra, to be a sound one. must have certain characteristic features and unless these conditions are satisfied they cannot pass muster under the heading of a sutra. In English, so far as my humble knowledge and practical experience go, it looks impossible to frame a sutra as the Sanskrit authors have composed and conceived it. The defects of languages cannot be set right by ordinary men, and it is hopeless to make such attempts.
Jaimini, through his great sympathy and love for the people, framed these sutras and they have to be interpreted on certain principles, which the Sanskrit writers have laid down for our guidance and education. The brevity of a sutra is its distinguishing feature, and it can easily be committed to memory even by the ordinary students. Somehow or other, Sanskrit language seems to have a close affinity to strengthen and improve memory.
Have we ever seen an advocate or a judge who is able to repeat a few sections of any legal book? Is there any English knowing person who can repeat a play of Shakespeare or a few pages of any dictionary? In Sanskrit, Dasopanishads are easily committed to memory. There are Dwivedis and Thrivedis who easily commit to memory one, two and three Vedas and repeat them with an ease which surprises the listeners. There are many who have committed to memory the Sanskrit lexicon “Amara” and quote its stanzas offhand with the greatest ease. Bhagavata, Bharata, Ramayana and other extensive works are easily committed to memory. Kavyas and Natakas. Epics and Dramas form no exception. Astrological literature, whether it be astronomical calculation or astrological Phalabhaga has been committed to memory and I can repeat more than 2 or 3 thousand slokas, without any paper or pencil.
The discussion of the learned Brahmin Pandits is a source of great delight to the audience. They bring neither books, nor notes, nor papers, nor any references when they come for great assemblies where their knowledge in the several branches of Sanskrit will be tested and where they receive due rewards. The greatest Indian Pandit has hardly anything which deserves the name of a library, whereas the poorest equipped English reader keeps up a decent library. Are not then the heads of these Pandits more valuable than the heads of the greatest English scholars who have to refer to books for constant renewal of their memories?
