ABSTRACT

Madhvas are well known for polemics against their rivals. In fact debate and argument with other schools is an integral part of being and becoming a proper citizen of the Madhva world, preparing for Visnu-prasada and eventually being graced with moksa. This chapter examines Madhvacarya’s Kathalaksa?a, a handbook on rhetoric and the three kinds of debate. The Kathalaksana, also known as the Vadalaksana, is a brief text of thirty-five anustubhs in which Madhvacarya defines the types of debates and the context within which they take place. Such manuals on rhetoric were not uncommon among the schools of South Asian philosophy and Madhva Vedanta is no exception. This treatise on polemics is useful as a dialectical handbook for adherents who wish to debate and wish to learn about the type of arguments that one can use.