Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s7.3
Vāda in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c5.s7.3
- Language
- English
c5.s7.3
Debates involve violence in various ways. In one of the most profound and prolonged debates described in the Upaniṣads, Gārgī challenges Yājñavalkya with an attacking stance. She compares her pair of questions with two fatal arrows. Commenting on the episode relating to the debate between Janaka and Sulabhā (which is being discussed in the next chapter), Nīlakaṇṭha, a commentator par excellence on *Mahābhārata*, also uses the metaphor of a battle, where both discussants (Janaka and Sulabhā) fought with *buddhyastra* (the weapon of intelligence) with each other.