두 사람이 등장하여 우열을 다투는 競合談은 이야기 형식가운데서도 아주 이른 시기에 출현한 것이라 하겠는데 불교 인물이야기에서도 비중 있게 수용된 形式으로 보인다. 「三國遺事」에 먼저 확인되는 이승경합담은 두 고승의 겨루기 방식을 통해 불교적 인간으로서의 성숙함과 미숙함을 드러내는 데 효과를 발휘한다. 같은 시기에 활약했던 佛僧위주로 엮여진 이들 짝은 成佛과 解脫을 염원하며 수행하던 중 한쪽에서 먼저 그 원을 성취하게 된다. 勝者는 당연히 내외의 우러름을 받지만 그렇다고 敗者가 부정되거나 망각되는 것으로 종결되는 법은 없다. 패자도 곧 승자를 따라 성불을 이루는 것이 文獻 競合談에 나타나는 것이 일반적 특성이다. 조선시대이후 전승된 二僧競合談은 과거와 달리 寺衆이 아닌 民衆이 전승의 주체가 된다. 그 결과 口碑중심으로 설화가 퍼지며 주제도 非佛敎的 속성을 지니게 된다. 심오한 불교적 주제는 탈색되어버리며 경우에 따라 민담과 다를 바 없이 일회적 흥미와 호기심을 불러일으키는 이야기로 바뀌는 것이다. 두 불승을 내세워 우열을 가리는 이야기가 끊임없이 전승되어왔으나 문헌, 구비물간에는 경합의 목표, 주제, 소재간 차이가 적지 않은 바 결국 담담층과 출현 시기에 따라 이승경합담의 양상이 크게 달라지는 것을 확인하게 된다.
Competition stories that described two people who contended for superiority seem to have been made in the very early stage of tales, and many stories about Buddhist figures are classified into competition stories. Samgukyyusa included stories on the experiences of two Buddhist priests. In some of the stories, one Buddhist priest got mature and grew into an ideal man, and the other failed to have the nature of Buddha. In general, the stories described two Buddhist priests who lived in similar ages, and just one of them became successful while both strived to train themselves in pursuit of Buddhahood and emancipation. The successful priest was highly regarded by others, and the failure was never portrayed as a person who was rejected or forgotten as well. One of the general characteristics of the competition stories was that the failure finally became successful in attaining Buddhahood, following the successful person. In and after the Joseon Age, the competition stories about two Buddhist priests were converted into another stories in which the public took the initiative, not Sajung who were frequent temple visitors. That phenomenon resulted in accelerating the spread of orally narrated tales that depicted non-Buddhist themes. Profound Buddhist themes were increasingly ruled out, and the stories got similar to folk tales in that both just stirred up people's temporary interest and curiosity. Stories about the competition of two Buddhist priests have continued to be handed down from generation to generation, but there were large disparities among literature of the stories in the object of competition, theme and subject matters. Therefore it could be said that the content and themes of the competition stories of two Buddhist priests depended on people who created the stories and time period when they were written.