  The latter title names one of four works attributed to Kumārila, and one of the two most important; it is the Ślokavārttika that is typically taken to be of greatest philosophical significance, and it was surely this work that was most recurrently engaged by other Indian philosophers. The Ślokavārttika is framed by Śabara’s commentary on the beginning of the first chapter of Jaimini’s work—the part of Śabara’s commentary traditionally styled “Tarkapāda,” or the “part concerning reasoning,” wherein Śabara considers as a preliminary matter questions pertaining to whether Vedic texts ought in the first place to be thought an epistemically reliable basis for action. It is thus in the Ślokavārttika that Kumārila argues for the epistemological and metaphysical commitments relevant to the governing claim that the Vedas are uniquely authoritative for matters of ultimate concern. Typically of the “vārttika” genre of commentary, Kumārila’s “commentary” often significantly revises or elaborates on the thoughts advanced in Śabara’s text, and the novelty of some of Kumārila’s arguments is therefore often clear. Typically, as well, of the inter-traditionally contested period in which he wrote, the epistemological and other arguments of the Ślokavārttika generally involve Kumārila’s heavily engaging rival Indian schools of thought and showing their alternative positions to fail as defeaters. While the arguments are in the service of claims (such as that the Vedas are eternal) that are unlikely to be attractive to modern readers, this text is often a model of philosophical subtlety and sophistication.