Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c7.s5.1

c7.s5.1

*Prāśnika* and *sadasya* these two terms have been used for a jury. Diṅnāga says that *prāśnika* (jury) is not supposed to know the conclusions being derived by the disputants when a debate is started.⁷¹ Commenting on him, Haribhadra explains — it is not that *prāśnikas* are ignorant, but they do not know the way to support either of the debaters.⁷² In his commentary on *Nyāyapraveśakasūtram*, Haribhadra defines *prāśnikas* as “unbiased like a balance which can equally weigh both the debaters, having knowledge of their systems and the systems of others, born in a good family, tolerant, and devoted to debates”.⁷³