Iconicity in Buddhist language and literature

This chapter will examine iconicity in Buddhist language and literature by analyzing the multidimensional iconicity in the gyate mantra that appears at the end of the Heart Sutra (Herlofsky 2013, 2014). It will be shown how the method of analysis for the four dimensions of poetry suggested by Abrams (2012) is also applicable to the analysis of multidimensional iconicity in this Buddhist mantra. After a brief discussion of mantra and an explanation of the method to be used, the mantra to be analyzed will be introduced, and the visual appearance of two pictographic (form miming form) versions of the mantra will be discussed. The sounds of the words of the mantra will then be identified, and how the sounds are elicited from the pronunciation of the words for the items represented in the pictographs (form miming form) will be illustrated. The discussion will then proceed to a brief explanation of the meaning of the sutra, describing how the five ‘lines’ of the mantra are related to five stages of enlightenment (form miming meaning). And finally, there will be an illustration of how the articulation of the sounds of the mantra can be seen as an orchestrated performance of iconically motivated vocal gestures (form miming meaning).