The Theory of Metaphor in the <i>Subodhālaṅkāra</i>

Abstract

The Indian science of rhetoric (alaṅkāra) systematizes figures of speech. While a large number of classical works on Sanskrit rhetoric have been handed down to us, Pāli rhetoric has only one extant treatise: the Subodhālaṅkāra, written by Saṅgharakkhita. This paper discusses how metaphor is defined and how the theory of metaphor is developed in the Subodhālaṅkāra.