Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t17.4

c6.s5.t17.4

Several stories of his public debates with contemporary philosophers are known in the tradition. He is said to have defeated Hīra, a *paṇḍit* in the court of King Vijayacandra of Kānyakubja. To have his revenge, Hīra devoted himself to training his son, Śrīharṣa. Śrīharṣa became one of the intellectual giants of his time and a celebrated poet also, but his rival had already passed away by the time he was prepared to challenge. Śrīharṣa had to contend by refuting Udayana's theories of Nyāya in his *Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya*. Caṇḍū Paṇḍita, a commentator of Śrīharṣa's *Naiṣadhīyacarita*, says: "Śrīharṣa refuted the works of Udayana, who had defeated his father, in the text entitled *Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya*".