Published with license by Koninklijke Brill BV | doi:10.1163/25425552-20240009 © MARCO FERRANTE AND ELISA FRESCHI, 2024 | ISSN: 2542-5544 ( print) 2542-5552 ( online) JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY (2024) 1–43 brill.com/saih The Principle of Suspension (bdha) in Early Mms: the Case of prpta- and aprptabdha Marco Ferrante | ORCID: 0000-0003-3527-2412 Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria Marco.Ferrante@oeaw.ac.at Elisa Freschi | orcid: 0000-0001-8017-9466 University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada elisa.freschi@utoronto.ca Received | Accepted | Published online Abstract This article examines the notion of bdha or ‘suspension’, one of the primary herme- neutical devices the Mms school of Sanskrit philosophy implemented to avoid seeming clashes between different commands of the Veda. Through bdha, a Vedic injunction can temporarily be suspended to allow for the unchallenged application of another. In all other cases, the first command remains valid, and its authority is therefore not undermined. This essay analyses the history of the device within early Mms, elaborates on how to decide which of two clashing commands should be suspended, and examines the crucial distinction between a suspension of something ‘obtained’ and that of something that is ‘not obtained yet’. Keywords Mms – hermeneutics – epistemology – Kumrila – Prabhkara – deontics SAIH_Advance_Ferrante_and_Freschi_proof-02.indd 1 SAIH_Advance_Ferrante_and_Freschi_proof-02.indd 1 10-Oct-24 5:33:01 PM 10-Oct-24 5:33:01 PM