ABSTRACT
WE now come to the last two systems of the 'philosophy of the Hindus, the Ptirva Ml~l1ansa of Jaimin~ and the Uttara Mlm~ns~ of Badarayana Vyasa. To the 'historian of India they are of the utmost importance and value. For the Mtmansa schools represent the conservative phase of the Hindu mind at a time when philosophers and laymen were alike drifting towards agnostic and heterodox opinions. Sankhya philosophy led away hosts of thinking men from the teachings of the . Upanishads on the Universal Soul; and the Buddhist religion was embraced by many of the lower classes as a. r~lief from caste inequalities. and elaborate Vedic ~~ rites. Against this general movement of the day the Mhnansa schools made a stand. The Pfrrva MIrna-nsa insisted on those Vedic rites and practices which modern philosophers had come to regard as useless or even as unholy ; and the U ttara Mimansa proclaimed the doctrine of the Universal Soul which the Upanishads had taught before, and which continues to be the cardinal' doctrine of Hinduism to this day.
