Metaphor or Simile? Judging a Student's Appreciation of a Four-Line Verse
A half-yearly question gives this four-line verse, composed for the paper: 'dīpo'pi jvalati rātrau, jñānaṃ jvalati sarvadā / dānaṃ jvalati kīrtyāṃ, tapo jvalati dehiṣu.' Students must write a 60-word appreciation in English or Sanskrit. Four students respond. P says: 'The verse compares a lamp, knowledge, donation and austerity; it says all four shine.' Q says: 'The lamp shines only at night; knowledge shines always; the verse uses the lamp as a simile for knowledge and contrasts time-bound and eternal light.' R says: 'It is a bhakti verse praising God as light.' S says: 'It warns that lamps cause fire, so knowledge is dangerous.' The teacher's guide says the key is 'the contrast between physical and inner light; upamā and anuprāsa.' You have to mark 20 scripts. Two students used the word 'simile' for all four lines; one used 'metaphor.' Decide.
1. Which student's appreciation is closest to the intended reading, and which words in the verse support it?
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Q is closest. The verse sets dīpo'pi ('even a lamp') against sarvadā ('always'): a lamp shines only in the night, while jñāna shines at all times. The repeated jvalati ('shines/burns') ties the four lines together, and the last two lines extend the contrast to dāna (giving) and tapas (austerity), whose 'light' is fame and bodily discipline rather than physical illumination. P notices the list but not the contrast; R imports bhakti without textual support; S reverses the image.
2. Is 'simile' or 'metaphor' the better label for the lamp–knowledge relation here? Consider the absence of iva and the parallel construction.
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Strictly, the verse does not use iva or yathā, so it is not a formal upamā with an explicit comparator; it places dīpa and jñāna in parallel and predicates the same verb jvalati of both. That is closer to rūpaka or parallel metaphor than to a textbook simile. But the teacher's guide says 'upamā and anuprāsa', so the expected school answer may use 'simile' loosely for the implied comparison. Best marking: accept 'simile' if the student explains the implied comparison, but reward a student who notes the absence of iva and calls it a metaphor or parallelism more precisely.
3. How should you award partial credit across 20 scripts when the guide's terminology and the verse's grammar pull in different directions?
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Separate observation from label. Give credit for (i) identifying the lamp–knowledge contrast, (ii) citing jvalati, sarvadā, and dīpo'pi, (iii) noting the extension to dāna and tapas, and (iv) using a defensible technical term with explanation. A student who writes 'simile' but explains the implied comparison gets the content marks; a student who writes 'metaphor because no iva' and supports it gets full content plus a precision bonus. A student who only labels without textual evidence gets at most half. This keeps the guide from penalising accurate grammatical observation.