Does Early Yogācāra Have a Theory of Meaning? Sthiramati’s Arguments on Metaphor in the Triṃśikā- bhāṣya Roy Tzohar 1 Published online: 4 May 2016 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract Can the early Yoga¯ca¯ra be said to present a systematic theory of meaning? The paper argues that Sthiramati’s bha¯s ˙ ya on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśikā (Treatise in Thirty Verses), in which he argues that all language-use is metaphorical, indeed amounts to such a theory, both because of the text’s engagement with the wider Indian philosophical con- versation about reference and meaning and by virtue of the questions it addresses and its motivations. Through a translation and analysis of key sections of Sthiramati’s com- mentary I present the main features of this theory of meaning and discuss the ways in which it is distinct from Vasubandhu’s ideas. I demonstrate how this theory of meaning enabled Sthiramati to present a unique understanding of discourse that distinguishes between varying levels of truth within the conventional realm. This understanding sat well with the Yogācāra soteriological and theoretical needs, and most importantly, enabled him to establish the meaningfulness of the school’s own metaphysical discourse. Securing this meaningfulness was especially important to Sthiramati in meeting the challenge posed by the radical conventionalism of the Madhyamaka, and his response as I interpret it suggests that one of the main disputes between the early Yoga¯ca¯ra with the Ma¯dhyamika, at least as reflected in the Triṃśikā-bhāṣya, in fact turns on linguistic rather than ontological issues. Keywords Buddhism · Yoga¯ca¯ra · Metaphor · Vasubandhu · Upaca¯ra · Language Introduction Can the early Yoga¯ca¯ra be said to present a systematic theory of meaning? In this paper I argue that Sthiramati’s bhāṣya on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśikā (Treatise in Thirty Verses), in which he argues that all language-use is metaphorical, indeed amounts to & Roy Tzohar roytzo@post.tau.ac.il 1 Department of East Asian Studies, Tel Aviv University, Gilman Building for Humanities, Room 273, P.O. Box 39040, 69978 Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel 123 J Indian Philos (2017) 45:99–120 DOI 10.1007/s10781-016-9300-4