Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t12.4

c6.s5.t12.4

Haribhadrasūrin calls Dharmakīrti as “Vādimukhya” (the chief debater). From other accounts about the life and deeds of Dharmakīrti, we learn that he was given the titles like *vādivṛṣabha* (a bull amongst the debaters), *vādipuṅgava* (best of the debaters), etc.¹²⁰ In the mythological accounts of the life and deeds of Dharmakīrti, the Tibetan traditions record that he combated with the two great apostles of orthodox philosophies (Kumārila and Śaṅkara) on the public platforms and emerged victorious. This is historically impossible. Such stories must have been fabricated out of a wishful thinking and also out of appreciation for Dharmakīrti’s talents in logic — suggesting that had Dharmakīrti been alive when Kumārila and Śaṅkara dominated the scene, he might have humbled them by his arguments.