Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c13.s3.5

v1.c13.s3.5

Many are of opinion that Buddha himself avoided entering into discussions with others, and discouraged those of his disciples who entered into discussions on religious matters in the course of their preaching and wandering. Such opinion is not wholly correct. There are passages in the Buddhist scriptures which lend colour to the aforesaid view. To cite one or two such passages: He is said to have declared that his dhamma is not to be grasped by mere logic (*atakkāvacara*)³ and he condemned the Śramaṇas and Brāhmaṇas who took to hair-splitting disputations saying, ‘Issue has been joined against you, you are defeated, set to work to clear your views, disentangle yourself if you can’ (*āropito te vādo, niggahīto ’si. Cara vādappamokkhāya, nibbethehi vā sace pahosīti).¹ From such passages, it is not right to draw the conclusion that Buddha condemned or prohibited the holding of all disputations on religious matters.