Animal-Oriented laukikanyāyas. Analogical and metaphorical uses of non-human animals in selected philosophical contexts

This contribution analyses some common uses of illustrationsand analogical maxims related to the animal kingdom in general and some animals in particular. Indeed, Sanskrit philosophical texts occasionally resort to everyday life scenarios that are readily accessible to human experience in order to clarify sophisticated theories, doctrines or complex theoretical disquisitions. The maxims that por-tray specific natural and cultural situations and analogise them with specific the-oretical contexts are called laukikanyāyas. These laukikanyāyas, which are usually built upon the observation of nature, are frequently modelled after animals, tak-ing into account certain physical or behavioural traits that may be either tangible or cultural. A well-known example found in the Adhyāsabhāṣya(Śaṅkara Bhaga-vatpāda’s introduction to his Brahmasūtrabhāṣya) will serve as a methodological starting point for the analysis.