Condensed Tibetan allusions

Dandin's Kāvyādarśa was massively influential in Tibetan literature since the 13^th century C.E. Many Tibetan commentaries were written, and also a special genre called "exercise book" (dper brjod) in which an original example of four lines would be composed to illustrate each of the ornaments and sub-ornaments in the original text. This essay explores Tibetan uses of the figure of condensed speech, samāsokti, and various Tibetan examples of this figure from scholars like the 5^th Dalai Lama down to contemporary poets such as Dung-dkar Blo-bzang 'Phrin-las. We find not only different understandings of how the figure of speech works, including a recursivity inspired by Buddhist theories of language, but also obvious social and political agendas, including ironic sparring between vying poets on the Tibetan plateau.