Who is Koṇḍadeva? An unknown author of an unknown text in Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā

IntroductionThe system of Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā (PM) is concerned with the interpretation of the Vedicsentences in order to arrive at the intended meaning of Veda which is decisively related tothe correct performance of the rite. PM was first systemized by Jaimini who formulatedthe aphorism and divided it into twelve chapters, each having at least four sections. Theaphorisms of Jaimini are explained along with suitable examples from the Veda byŚabara in his bhāṣya called Śābarabhāṣya. Śābarabhāṣya has been commented upon byKumārila Bhāṭṭa in his magnum opus in three parts namely Ślokavārttika, Tantravarttikaand Ṭupṭīkā. There is another commentary on the bhāṣya by Prabhākara Miśra who was acontemporary to Kumārila. These two are credited with pioneering of the two famousschools of PM namely the Bhāṭṭa school and the Prābhākara school. A third school wasalso initiated later by Murāri Miśra. Out of these the Bhāṭṭa school gained maximumpopularity. This school has a great lineage of scholars and is largely studied and followedtill date. Large number of works have been written by several authors belonging to thisschool. Out of these many works have remained unpublished lying in the form ofmanuscript. One such work is Bhāṭṭamatapradīpikā.The name of the text is quite transparent. It is a text illuminating i.e. expounding(prakāśikā) the theories (mata) according to the Bhāṭṭa school of Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā. It hasbeen written by Koṇḍadeva. This independent treatise mainly deals with exposition oftopics such as the nature of injunction, prime-qualificandness etc., which are related toverbal-understanding (śābdabodha) according to the views of the Pūrva-Mīmāṁsāespecially according to the Bhāṭṭa school.