(literally "bursting, opening") is a Sanskrit term, as used by Sanskrit grammarians denoting the "internal and imperceptible element of sounds and words and the vehicle of the idea which bursts or flashes on the mind when a sound is uttered" (Monier-Williams). The concept was introduced by Bhartrihari in ca. the 6th century AD. The notion of "flash or insight" or "revelation" central to the concept has induced much learned debate in Indian philosophy of language.