Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 14: The Aśvamedha Sacrifice
Text 1.14.19
कर्मान्तरे तदा विप्रा हेतुवादान्बहूनपि।
प्राहुः स्म वाग्मिनोः धीराः परस्परजिगीषया॥
karmāntare tadā viprā hetu-vādān bahūn api
prāhuḥ sma vāgmino dhīrāḥ paraspara-jigīṣayā
karma-antare tadā = during the breaks between the soma offerings; viprāḥ = sacrificial priests; hetu-vādān = logical arguments; bahūn api = many; prāhuḥ sma = spoke; vāgminaḥ = of expert speech; dhīrāḥ = the intelligent; paraspara-jigīṣayā with a desire to win over each other.
During the breaks between the soma offerings, the intelligent sacrificial priests of expert speech spoke many logical arguments with a desire to win over each other.
This is a reference to the brahmodya, a philosophical competition in the form of questions and answers posed by the Hotā and Brahmā sacrificial priests, that is referred to in the scriptures.