Pramāṇa and Śruti : Mīmāṃsā Background of Śaṅkara Hermeneutics in the Principal Upaniṣads

Abstract

Śaṅkarācārya’s hermeneutical method in interpreting the Upaniṣads stands at the intersection of Mīmāṃsā epistemology and Advaita Vedānta metaphysics. While the Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā established the self-validity of śruti (svataḥ-prāmāṇya), Śaṅkara extended this epistemic principle from the ritual domain to the metaphysical domain of Brahman-jñāna. This paper studies Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad-bhāṣyas on Īśa, Kena, Kaṭha, Praśna, Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍūkya, Taittirīya, and Aitareya, examining how he employs and transforms Mīmāṃsā hermeneutic tools such as tātparya-lakṣaṇa, liṅga-vākya-prakaraṇa, and svataḥ-prāmāṇya, to assert śruti as the sole pramāṇa for the knowledge of Brahman. Through philological and philosophical analysis, the study shows that Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣadic hermeneutics is not a rejection but a spiritual re-direction of Mīmāṃsā reasoning, culminating in aparokṣa-jñāna as liberation.