Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t10.1

c6.s5.t10.1

The history of intellectual debate between the orthodox schools of Indian philosophy on one hand and the schools of Buddhist philosophy on the other is a unique phenomenon as far as world philosophy is concerened. It presents one of the finest examples of intellectual refinement through *vāda*. As both the sides sharpened their weapons for attacking their adversaries, they enriched and sharpened their own systems of thought and tools of analysis. Nāgārjuna was the forerunner of one of the most prolonged traditions of scholastic debate. He vehemently criticized Gautama's logic in his *Vigrahavyāvartanī* and *Vaidalyasūtra*. While acknowledging the greatness of Nāgārjuna as a philosopher, it must also be accepted that he was able to take the argumentative traditions to the peaks through the steps of logic as envisaged by Gautama in his *Nyāyasūtra*.