The Compendium of Caraka 3.8.21

3.8.21

pratyavareṇa tu saha samānābhimatena vā vigṛhya jalpatā suhṛtpariṣadi kathayitavyam, athavā 'apyudāsīnapariṣadyavadhānaśravaṇajñānavijñānopadhāraṇavacanaprativacanaśaktisaṃpannāyāṃ kathayatā cāvahitena parasya sādguṇyadoṣabalamavekṣitavyaṃ, samavekṣya ca yatrainaṃ śreṣṭhaṃ manyeta nāsya tatra jalpaṃ yojayedanāviṣkṛtamayogaṃ kurvan; yatra tvenamavaraṃ manyeta tatraivainamāśu nigṛhṇīyāt/

Debating hostiles with an inferior or with one considered an equal, one should speak in a friendly assembly, or in an impartial assembly endowed with attentiveness, the ability to listen, knowledge, specialized understanding, comprehension, and the power of statement and rejoinder. While speaking attentively, one should observe the opponent's strength in good qualities and defects; having observed, one should not engage him in debate where one considers him superior, keeping one's non-engagement concealed; where one considers him inferior, however, there alone one should swiftly defeat him.