Classifications of prescriptions (vidhi)

Mīmāṃsā authors propose several distinct classifications of prescriptions. Still, as typical within one darśana, they do not explicitly disagree with former or different ones. Apart from the historical interest of the development of these partly conflicting lists, their interactions offers an instance of the internal elaboration of a theme within one darśana. Vidhis are in fact a peculiar concern of Mīmāṃsā and hence their classification has probably been never influenced by other schools.

Leaving aside minor aspects, such as the lack of one or the other member, one finds variations of the following two classifications:

1. apūrvavidhi

2. niyamavidhi

3. parisāṅkhyavidhi

or

I. utpattividhi

II. viniyogavidhi

III. adhikāravidhi

IV. prayogavidhi

Some authors try to connect the two. For instance, Gāgābhāṭṭa, a late Bhāṭṭa, prefers the first one and asserts that apūrvavidhi can be further divided into classes I to IV. Nonetheless, he further claims that niyamavidhi and parisāṅkhyavidhi are usually (prāyeṇa) instances of viniyogavidhi.

Rāmānujācārya seems to be drawn by a tendency to rationalise the lists and gets rid of the first one, subsuming apūrvavidhi and niyamavidhi within utpattividhi. Parisāṅkhyavidhi is just left out.