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THE KARMA-MIMĀMSA
the offerings were supposed to be made. It can hardly be assumed that these deities were not believed to be real by the founders of the Mimämsā. And there is nothing to show that Jaimini did not accept their existence. But the later doctrine, as evinced in such works as the Devatasvarūpavicara of Apadeva, does not accept the validity of the descriptions of the deities given in the Purānas as showing the existence of such beings; these passages rank as mere Arthavada : the deity is merely that to which offering is made, and has no existence beyond the Mantras addressed to it.
