The mimamsa's epistemological doctrine of svatah-pramanya

The present work is an introduction to the study of one of the most important epistemological doctrines, both for the entire history of Indian philosophy, and no less important for modern Western philosophical thought - the doctrine of Svatah-Pramanya. This is the doctrine of one of the most influential philosophical schools of ancient India - Mimamsa, which asserts the intrinsic reliability, the a priori truth of knowledge. The author explores the earliest primary sources of the origin of the Svatah-Pramanya doctrine, referring to the Mimamsa-Sutras (ca. III-I centuries B.C.) - the main text of the Mimamsa tradition, and the earliest commentary on it available today - Shabara-Bhashya (ca. V century), formulating the characteristics and features of this concept, as well as involving a comparative study with representatives of opposing epistemological points of view. Formulating the characteristic features of this concept and involving a comparative study with opposing epistemological viewpoints, the author concludes that this epistemological doctrine is unique, providing a general philosophical orientation to the Mimamsa school, combining characteristics of realism and “subtle pragmatism”, thereby setting an unusual approach to understanding knowledge as such.