Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t2.4

c6.s5.t2.4

By his analytical method, Buddha classified all the philosophical questions into four categories — *ekāṁśa-vyākaraṇīya* (answerable in affirmative or negative terms), *vibhajyavādena-vyākaraṇīya* (answerable by division and analysis), *pratipraśnena-vyākaraṇīya* (answerable by putting counter-questions) and *sthāpanīya* (to be answered by silence or to be set aside). This was in accordance with his philosophy of avoiding extremes — the *madhyamā pratipad* (the middle path). There can be two aspects emerging out of any theory and they may form two extremes. Avoidance of these two extremes is *madhyamā pratipad*. Buddha followed the middle path by rejecting the two extremes. In the theory of Anekānta also, middle path is accepted albeit with acceptance of the two extremes as well. Matilal (1981: 18) explains Buddha’s way as “exclusive middle” and the Anekānta theory as “inclusive middle”.