A General Overview

This paper is a brief survey on the concept of paribhasa throughout the whole Indian textual tradition. The contribute displays in a general way what is well developed by other articles of the volume. The most striking feature of this overview is that it highlights some issues concerning the translation of the word paribhasa as well as the general definitions formulated across Indian literary history. Possible alternative translations of the term paribhasa, from the history of ideas’ perspective, are as follows: meta-rule, hermeneutic rule, interpretative rule. The paper hints at the very core of the problem, namely the multi-tasking function of the paribhasa.