This paper tries to elucidate ?abara's concept of action in comparison with Kumārila's bhāvanāa-theory by analyzing the relevant portions of the ?ābara-bhā?ya and the Tantravārttika, especially those on Jaimini-sūtra 2.1.1. The introductory part of this article refers to Kumārila's definitions of three concepts, bhāva, kriyā, and bhāvanā, to show that he demonstrates the primary function of bhāvanā (the action of causing something to come into being) in the Mīmāmsā system of hermeneutics through differentiating among those three concepts and clarifying their mutual relation in terms of three classes of verbs, i.e. intransitive, transitive, and causative: kriyā (prayojaka-vyāpāra) + bhāva (prayojya-vyāpāra) = bhāvanā (upasarjanībhūtaprayojyakriyah prayojaka-vyāpārah). The analysis of Sabara's arguments consists of the following two points. First, the examination of ?abara's use of action-words occurring in Jaimini-sūtra 2.1.1 and his commentary on it reveals that he makes a clear distinction among the three terms, bhāvārthāh ([the words] denoting the function of coming into being), karma?abdāh, and bhāva?abdāh (=ākhyātāni), in accordance with his interpretation of the sūtra. The present writer proceeds to contrast his understanding of the sūtra with that of Kumārila, according to whom the "bhāva" in the sūtra is nothing but a synonym for the "bhāvanā." Thus Kumārila bases on this sūtra the view that verbs denote the bhāvanā. Second, the present writer investigates ?abara's idea of the role that the elements, bhāva, kriyā, and bhāvanā, play in the world of rituals and the interpretation of Vedic scriptures. For example, a Vedic injunction "svargakāmo yajeta" is paraphrased into "yāgāt svargo bhavati," "yāgena svargam kuryāt," or "yāgena svargam bhāvayet." Accordingly, ?abara treats all three as the central element which corresponds to the concept of kriyā in kāraka-theory, without discriminating among them. On the basis of the above study, this paper makes the following concluding remarks: what seems to underlie ?abara's idea of bhāvanā is an attempt to read from the Veda itself the ultimate purpose of ritual acts-- that is, heaven. It is quite possible that for this purpose he has invented the bhāvanā, a concept that was not found in the action-theory of grammarians (vaiyākara?as). But he does not give a definite answer about how it is understood from the words of Veda, whereas Kumārila attributes the power of expressing it to verbs.
