Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c6.s5.t2.8

c6.s5.t2.8

Buddha and his followers developed a specific method of indulging in *kathā* (discussion). It has been termed as *paṭipucchā kathā* (*pratipṛcchā kathā* — delivering a discourse by the way of asking questions). In *Nandakavāda Sutta* of *Majjhimanikāya*, Nandaka exemplifies this method of *kathā*. In the same way, *Anumānasutta* and *Upālisutta* in the same scripture present the concept of inference and *vāda* in the sense of a controversy. The debating skills of the monks like Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja are described in the Piṭakas or Buddhist scriptures. Buddha’s debate with Saccaka is also described.⁹¹ The genre of *dhammakathā* (discussion of *dhamma*) was cultivated and practised with the advent of Buddha. The basic tenets of the theory of *kathā* were also evolved with Buddha’s discourse on *dhamma*. *Kathāvatthu* in *Abhidhamma Piṭaka* which composed around 255 BCE mentions *anuyoga* (inquiry), *udāharaṇa* (illustration), *paṭiññā* (proposition), *upanayana* (application of reason), *niggama* (conclusion) and *niggaha* (capture or defeat) as various techniques of *kathā*.⁹²