Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s15.2

c5.s15.2

*Mahābhārata* presents the first authentic exposition on the theory of debate through the discourse of Sulabhā. Even though the tradition of intellectual discourses, debates and discussions was assiduously pursued for more than a millennium in the philosophical discourses, it was the Nyāya philosophy that made it a part of an epistemology within the system. *Nyāyasūtra* of Gautama (sixth-fifth century BCE) discusses the theory of debate in detail. Out of the sixteen *padārthas* (categories) that are supposed to be essential for the discipline of Nyāya, the following fourteen are directly related to debate — *saṁśaya* (doubt), *prayojana* (purpose/motive), *dṛṣṭānta* (illustration), *siddhānta* (theory/tenet), *tarka* (argument/hypothetical reasoning), *avayava* (members of a syllogism, parts of sentence presenting the thesis), *nirṇaya* (conclusion), *vāda* (discussion), *jalpa* (debate/wrangling), *vitaṇḍā* (cavil), *hetvābhāsa* (fallacy), *chala* (trick/quibbling), *jāti* (rejoinder)⁷⁵ and *nigrahasthāna* (clinchers/checks); and the remaining two — *pramāṇa* and *prameya* are indirectly linked with debate.