The word that ceases to escape. Affirmation of writing and reinterpretation of the Vedic tradition

This article describes how the history of Indian thought has been substantially affected by the first encounter that Brahmanic circles had with writing (5th c. BCE). This encounter was immediately followed by a rejection of writing, which not only determined the evolution of the concept of Veda but, through a prolonged theoretical elaboration, would also give rise to the system of Mīmāṃsā. Although the Indian society of the classical and medieval period was certainly not characterized by primary orality, since writing was relatively widespread, the description of the Veda developed over the centuries by Brahmanical circles is precisely the result of a reflection on orality, considered as an intrinsic feature of the Vedic tradition. Even many centuries after the initial Brahmanic refusal of writing, greater or lesser resistance to the internalization of writing technology marks the gap between Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta, both of them based on the hermeneutics of the Veda. In any case, Vedānta, in order to place itself in the tradition of authoritative orthodox thought, does not reject the hermeneutics of Mīmāṃsā, but declares it preparatory to its own. This is the expedient with which Vedānta justifies the change and renders the new acceptable.