Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s14.1

c5.s14.1

While the texts like *Nyāyasūtra* of Gautama and *Brahmasūtra* of Bādarāyaṇa take into account the rival systems for critiquing, the authors of *bhāṣyas* on these *sūtra* texts specially entered into debates with their opponents. *Brahmasūtra* itself is a *vāda* text, almost all the aphorisms are structured in giving a reasoning and argument to refute the prima facie view. The use of *apādāna kāraka* (ablative case) in many of the aphorisms (like *tattu samanvayāt*) indicates a proban and argumentative design.