Platonist Brahmans? Platonic metaphors in Refutation of All Heresies 1.24

Chapter 24 of Book 1 of the Refutation of All Heresies, attributed to Hippolytus, is a description of the customs and doctrines of the Brahmans. Though the former are richly documented in extant Greek sources, the latter are not. However, the Refutation author does vivify the account of the Brahmanic doctrines with a series of colourful metaphors. The main source of those metaphors was Plato, and especially the Phaedo.