debates, grammar, & Vedic

[thompson at handel.jlc.net]

Preoccupied as I am with things Vedic, I found the recent discussion of debates
rather interesting, and I am reluctant to see it close without further
comment [I also confess that I've lost interest in the current thread on
the New Year and would like to change the subject].  It seems to me that
throughout its history Vedic and Brahmanic India has shown a certain
predilection for debate, for the assertion of personal authority through
verbal dexterity, i.e., through performance in verbal contests of various
sorts.  The various postings have shown that this predilection has
persevered through the Vedic period into the classical and medievel
periods, even up to the present time. But I think that it can also be said,
*without debate*, that the Brahmins of classical India were  known to their
contemporaries in, e.g., Greece, Rome, and China, as skillful rhetoricians
as well, and that interest in rhetoric also has a long history in India.

It seems to me that this skill in debate and in rhetoric is clearly related
to another prominent feature of classical India: the long distinguished
history of the native grammarians, a tradition of remarkable linguistic
study that I think goes all the way back to the RV.  Would any of
Indology's specialists on the grammarians, or anyone else, care to comment
on this claim?

Sincerely,
George Thompson