Venue: ISI Calcutta 

Date: 01 February 2025 

Organizers: 

• Manidipa Sanyal (University of Calcutta, India)

• Bama Srinivasan (Anna University, India)

Session 1: Study of imperatives in the Mīmāṁsā system

Speaker: Prabal Kumar Sen (University of Calcutta, India)

Abstract

Study of imperatives is distinctly evident in the Indian context. Though the grammarians (regarding the tense and mood of the verb formation) and the Naiyayikas discussed about imperatives, still it is the Mīmāṁsā system among different schools of Indian philosophy, which offers an analysis of imperative sentences, where actions, guided by instructions, play an important role . It is necessary to be acquainted with this Indian school not only as a philosophical background of the new development of the study of imperative statements, but, more importantly, as a fundamental study of imperatives . The importance of imperative is that knowledge acquired from imperatives cannot be accessed by any other instrument of knowledge. The Mīmāṁsakas are more concerned about the explanation of Vidhivākyas (imperatives/prescriptions) in the context of ritualistic sacrifice. According to the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṁsakas, the imperative is authoritative (prāmāņyavākya) in nature. The Prābhākaras claim that the entire Veda is an instrument of knowledge, not by virtue of prescribing means of attaining some end, but by virtue of pointing something that is to be done irrespective of the result of that activity. What is important is that one has to remember that in every prescribed action, there is a purpose or goal for successful execution of the instructions. Indian thinkers have given much attention to it, and those who rejected the idea also have sufficient reason in favor of their view.

Session 2: Mīmāṁsā system of logical interpretation with applications in Computer Science

Speakers: Ranjani Parthasarathi, Bama Srinivasan (Anna University, India)

Abstract

This session explores Mīmāṁsā, one of the six systems of Indian philosophy, and its structured approach to interpreting Vedic texts through imperative statements and interpretative rules. Key topics include the classification of imperative statements, contextual interpretation methods, and techniques for resolving contradictions to reach  conclusions. Some tenets of Mīmāṁsā have already been explored, leading to the construction of a formalism known as the Mīmāṁsā Inspired Representation of Actions (MIRA). This formalism has been applied in Natural Language Understanding, Artificial Intelligence Planning, Robotics, Reinforcement Learning, and, more recently, Large Language Models. This session will also provide an in-depth overview of these

applications and discuss future research directions. 

Workshop Slides

• Mīmāṁsā - Part - 1, 

• MIRA - Part - 2,

• Applications -  Part - 3, 

• Comparative Study - Part - 4

• Future Directions -  Part - 5