Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c9.12

c9.12

These philosophies adopted a sustained strategy of debate for countering the social discordances arising out of the *varṇāśrama*-centric culture. They made strong refutations of the norms of hierarchy. The systems they tried to evolve transgressed such norms, but ultimately achieved a reconciliation. The very term *vāma mārga* (left path) which came into prevalence for the Tantric cults denotes the adaptation of the ways and means to transgress all orthodoxy.