Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t10.8

c6.s5.t10.8

Nāgārjuna challenged the followers of the rival schools of orthodox philosophies and initiated debate with them. He discarded all labels and ideologues — absolutism, monism, radical pluralism, nihilism, negativism, relativism or any form of dialectics. He appears of be elusive but his philosophy is solely based on the middle path “which can be termed the ontological inclusiveness, excellence, purity and supreme state of being”.¹⁰⁸ He restrained himself from adopting any counter-thesis, “because that would entail yet another position”.¹⁰⁹ His philosophy is defined as the philosophy of no-position. He himself declares that “he has no views to offer and therefore he must be absolved from all errors”.¹¹⁰ Nāgārjuna asserted that common intellect is unmindful of the four relational conditions: *hetu-pratyaya* (causal component), *ālambana-* pratyaya (objective component), *samānāntara-pratyaya* (sequential component) and *ādhipateya-pratyaya* (dominant component).¹¹¹ Any reality or experience therefore can only be categorized in negative terms, viz. non- extinction, non-origination, non-destruction, non-eternal, non-identity, non-differentiation, non-coming into being and non-being. In fact, by *śūnyatā*, Nāgārjuna gave a potential tool for reasoning and refuting the opponents view: