Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t11.4

c6.s5.t11.4

The proponent and the respondent (*vādin* and *prativādin*) stood before each with daggers drawn, abuses we are hurled and piquant satires we are used. And this was the era when India’s intellectual genius reached its zenith reverberating with its fertile thinking and presenting sumptuous feasts in intellection. Philosophy became a celebration of intellectual skills. Both intra-sectarian and inter-sectarian debates were fought by Bādarāyaṇa, Vātsyāyana, Nāgārjuna, Diṅnāga, Kumārila, Prabhākara, Dharmakīrti, Śaṅkarācārya and Udayana. Buddhist philosophers like Nāgārjuna, Diṅnāga and Dharmakīrti exemplified the theory and practice of debate not only through their writings, they also participated in debates on public platforms. *Vāda* was a means of propagation of Buddha's message for them.