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Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s1: Vāda, Saṁvāda and Vivāda

Vāda in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s1

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English

Vāda, Saṁvāda and Vivāda

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The term *vāda* is derived from the root *vad-* (to speak). The dictionary by Monier-Williams gives the following meanings of *vāda* — speaking of or about, causing a sound, playing, advice, council, speech, discourse, talk, utterance, statement, a thesis, proposition, argument, doctrine, discussion, controversy, dispute, contest, quarrel, etc. The term *śāstrārtha* came in vogue during nineteenth and twentieth centuries for *vāda* in a limited sense (scholastic debate). It is mostly used for debates on public platforms or sometimes debates through the print media. *Vāda* has a wider connotation. It is accepted as a type of *kathā* (discussion) involving debates, dialogues and discussions on a philosophical, religious, social or ethical issue.

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During Vedic period (before 600 BCE) the term *brahmodya* was used in the sense of *vāda*. K. Satchidananda Murty rightly suggests that “the oldest word used in the Vedic literature for the discussion of philosophical/theological problems is *brahmodya*”.¹¹ *Brahmodya*¹² is the technical name for the assemblies for holding discussions, debates and dialogues on ontological or epistemological issues.¹³

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*Brahmodya* is not debate in the modern sense of the term, as the answers given by the respondent are known to the disputant and they are not challenged and questioned.

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The dialogues involving heated discussions and rejoinders were called *vākovākya*. Yājñavalkya includes *vākovākya* in his list of subjects for study.¹⁴ A *vākovākya* is treated sometimes synonymous to *brahmodya*. K.F. Geldner “sees in the *vākovākya* as an essential part of the Itihāsa-Purāṇa, the dialogue or dramatic element as opposed to narrative portion”.¹⁵

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The assembly for a *brahmodya* was called *brahma-saṁsad*.¹⁶ The term *vāda* came to be used subsequently with the emergence of systems of philosophy. *Milindapañho*, a Pāli text of second century BCE, uses the term *saddhi* for *vāda*. The term *brahma-sabhā* was also used for the assembly were debates or discussions on philosophical issues were organized. Rājaśekhara in the tenth chapter of his *Kāvyamīmāṁsā* directs the king to organize *brahma-sabhās* in his capital to identify and honour the best of the philosophers and scholars. A special vehicle called *brahma-ratha* was arranged for the best debaters of the *brahmodyas*. Rājaśekhara has also informed that *śāstra-parīkṣās* (examinations of the scholars through debate and discussion) used to be organized in the city of Pāṭaliputra (see Chap. 2). The kings presided over the *śāstra-sabhās* in different disciplines. In addition to these, there were institutions in later period organizing *śāstra-sabhās*. The Tripunithura court organized *vākyārtha-sabhās*. In several towns of Kerala *śāstra-sabhās* were held.¹⁷

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Indian debate has a rich history of three millennia. There have been debates with a view to find out the truth, for a search of harmony and inherent unity of divergent theories. There have also been debates with sharp differences emphasizing the distinctions.

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*Isibhāsiyāin* (*Ṛṣibhāṣitāni*), a collection of discourses by seers belonging to the Vedic, Ājīvaka, Cārvāka, Buddhist and Jaina traditions, is a unique text building up bridges and creating dialogues between diverse sects and traditions. Compiled around the fourth-third centuries BCE,¹⁸ the text is immensely valuable for understanding the Indian traditions of sharing knowledge systems. Amongst the seers included, twelve belong to Nirgrantha sect or Jainism, five to Buddhist philosophy and as many as seventeen to Vedic tradition. Amongst the remaining seers, Maṅkhali Ghosāla is known as the founder of Ājīvaka sect and while the affiliations of nine others are unknown. The 20^th chapter named Utkala Adhyayana does not give the name of any sage, but it discusses the materialist philosophy through very interesting illustrations. The 21^st chapter cites the *gāthās* of Gāthāpatiputra Taruṇa propounding Ajñānavāda, the philosophy of ignorance.

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The whole process of *vāda* should lead to conclusion and theory building. Therefore the word *vāda* also came to be used in the sense of theory. Some of the well-known theories in the philosophical systems were named as *vādas*, viz. Ārambhavāda, Prāmāṇyavāda, etc. Some of the treatises dealing with specific theories were named as *vāda granthas*. Gadādhara Bhaṭṭācārya, a well-known Naiyāyika of seventeenth century CE, has written several *vāda* texts, viz. *Vyutpattivāda*, *Śaktivāda*, *Viṣayatāvāda*, *Muktivāda*, *Vidhivāda*, etc.¹⁹ Madhva's works are also known as *vāda granthas*.

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The word *saṁvāda* is used in *Mahābhārata* in the sense of a highly-profound discussion between two intellectuals that was carried out in past and lives in the collective memory of a race. This kind of *saṃvāda* becomes *itihāsa*. Many such *saṃvāda*s are cited in *Mahābhārata*.

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In Gautama's system of Nyāya, the term *kathā* is used for all kinds of discussions, conversations, debates and dialogues. *Vāda* is understood as a type of *kathā*. Caraka, the savant of Āyurveda, understands the term *vāda* in the sense of a formal or proper debate, where one party differs with the other and each adopts a position as per their system of thought or discipline. Instead of grouping *jalpa* (wrangling) and *vitaṇḍā* (cavil) as types of *kathā* (as Gautama, the author of *Nyāyasūtra* has done) Caraka defines these two as types of *vāda* (for details see Chap. 3).

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