 Injunctions are commonly formed in Sanskrit through use of the optative verbal form, and a central question is just what does the optative affix mean. That one should do such and such seems to be the core meaning about which everyone agrees, but different analyses are given of the idea that one should do such and such. A central thesis is that a certain kind of knowledge both prompts and guides any action that is voluntary, pravṛtti, whether in everyday life or with a ritual. So now since rituals are actions, some of these action-prompting thoughts are prompted by comprehending Vedic sentences. Gaṅgeśa’s effort is often directed to integrating our understanding of Vedic and everyday language, and he uses his criticisms of Mīmāṃsā analyses of ritual actions to illumine the voluntary in general along with “desire to do,” effort, and the knowledge that directs action, including, especially, knowledge of a “means to what’s wanted,” iṣṭa-sādhanatā, an idea hotly debated by all factions of Mīmāṃsā. A basic division in the school occurs on the issue whether means of accomplishing what is enjoined, or contemplated because desired, iṣṭa-sādhanatā, is part of the content of an injunction (as itself implicated in any “desire to do” as the desire’s cognitive content). Bhāṭṭas insist that it is, but Prābhākaras demur, claiming that such is known by a separate intellectual act of “presumption,” arthâpatti. For Prābhākaras, it is simply that something “ought to be done,” its kāryatā, that is the meaning of an injunction, with the means to what’s wanted known by presumption. Gaṅgeśa rehearses extensive arguments on both sides, and seems generally to favor the positions of the Prābhākaras.