Saṃvāda: What is it in Philosophy?

       Saṃvāda is an ancient notion in Indian Philosophy. It is delicate to give the exact translation of the word ‘saṃvāda’, especially to translate it into a different culture and tradition. Yet, the general rendering of saṃvāda in English is ‘dialogue’ or ‘conversation’. This ancient term is found in the Upaniṣads. As a matter of fact, most of the Upaniṣadic texts are in the form of a dialogue; between master and disciple, or between father and son. Furthermore, the term is explicitly used in the Bhagavat Gītā. In essence the whole of the Bhagavat Gītā is in dialogue form. The word “saṃvāda” is found three times in the Gitā. 

      The term saṃvāda is the combination of ‘saṃ’ and ‘vāda’. The former is a pre-verb which means agreement or conjunction. The Latin equivalent for saṃ is ‘cum’ and is also found in English words like con-versation and con-junction. The latter refers to discussion or debate. Hence, the term saṃvāda can be understood as ‘dialogue’, although the term has a deeper meaning. 

        It is a ‘me-other’ or ‘self-other’ encounter. ‘The other’ in saṃvāda is not a mere hearer or listener but a pūrva-pakṣin (an interlocutor in a dialogue). Encountering ‘the other’ highlights new, different, hidden-between-the-lines aspects of oneself. In other words, it leads to an encounter with one’s own ‘inner other’. Thus in saṃvāda by meeting ‘the other’ one meets oneself anew. At another instance, in the same vein, It can be interpreted  as dialogical encounter, open discussion and even biting debate. It is a live dialogue where pūrva-pakṣins and siddhāntins (who hold their view as final and conclusive) both question each other in a dialogue.  The real  Saṃvāda can bring out the manifold aspects of truth. Thus all our endevours of Life and Truth should be based on Samvada.

Books of Daya Krishna

1955 The Nature of Philosophy.
1959 Planning, Power and Welfare. 
1965 Considerations towards a Theory of Social Change. 
1969 Editor. Modern Logic: Its Relevance to Philosophy. Social Philosophy: Past and                            Future.
1973 Editor. Indian Education Today: Prospects and Perspectives.
1977 Editor, with A.M. Ghose and P.K. Srivastava. The Philosophy of Kalidas Bhattacharya.
1978 Editor, with A.M. Ghose. Contemporary Philosophical Problems: Some Classical Indian 
                Perspectives
1979 Political Development: A Critical Perspective. 
1980 Gyāna Mīmāmsā, In Hindi.
1987 Development Debate: Fred W. Riggs and Daya Krishna.
        India’s Intellectual Traditions. 
        Editor. Paschimi Darshan Ka Itihas, Vols. 1 and 2 in Hindi.
1989 The Arts of The Conceptual: Explorations in a Conceptual Maze over Three Decades.
1991 Indian Philosophy: A Counter Perspective. 
        Editor, with K.L. Sharma.  The Philosophy of J.N. Mohanty.
        Editor, with M.P. Rege, R.C. Dwivedi and Mukund Lath. Saṃvāda – A Dialogue Between                   Two Philosophical Traditions.
1996 The Problematic and Conceptual Structure of Classical Indian Thought about Man, Society                 and Polity.
1997 Indian Philosophy: A New Approach.
        Prolegomena to any Future Historiography of Culture and Civilizations.
1999 Editor, with K. Sachidananda Murty. History, Culture and Truth: Essays Presented to                           Professor D.P. Chattopadhyaya.
2000 Editor, with Mukund Lath and Francine E. Krishna. Bhakti: A Contemporary Discussion –                   Philosophical Explanations in the Indian Bhakti Tradition.
        New Perspectives in Indian Philosophy.
2001 Developments in Indian Philosophy from the Eighteenth Century Onwards: Classical and                    Western.
2004 Bhārtīya Dars’ana: Eka Nayī Dṛṣṭi.
        Editor. Discussion and Debate in Indian Philosophy: Vedānta, Mīmāmsā and Nyāya.
      Nyāya Sūtras: A New Commentary on an Old Text.
2012     Towards a Theory of Structural and Transcendental Illusions.
     Civilizations: Nostalgia and Utopia.
Forthcoming Editor. The Jaipur Edition of the Ṛgveda.