Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s1.8

c5.s1.8

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*.