Shastrartha ( sa, शास्त्रार्थ, translit=śāstrārtha) is a type of intellectual debate prevalent in India. It was a kind of

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

debates in which

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

s participated to reveal the inner meaning (अर्थ) of Hindu scriptures known as the

shastra ''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The wo ...

s (शास्त्र). There were three types of Shastrartha prevalent in India, namely, the Vadakatha (healthy discussions which targeted the

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...

), the Jalpakatha (where two contradictory interpretations contested with each other) and the Vitandakatha (which attacked the other views without establishing their own view). The Vada katha was done among the

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

and Shishya or among the people belonging to the same philosophical school. While the latter two were done among the people of different schools or with the antagonistic

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...

s. People vied with each other for winning the contest by showing their language of the ancient scriptures

References

* Hindu philosophical concepts {{Hindu-philo-stub

See also

References