Tim Paine had a verbal battle with Ashwin but his gloves let him down late on day five.
India have held on for one of the most famous draws in Test history, standing up physically, verbally and emotionally to keep Australia at bay.
Hanuma Vihari scored just 23 off 161 balls to keep the Indian side together despite a hamstring injury as the Indians survived 40 overs to snatch a famous draw.
It was one of the great Test innings as Vihari pulled off the unthinkable as India almost come home to draw the game as India's resolute defence stood tall.
At the 117th over, Mark Waugh revealed India had batted for the longest time in a fourth innings of a Test match away from home since 1979.
The side survived 131 overs and with more time could have pulled off the unthinkable, finishing 72 runs short of the win.
It was an incredible effort but the end of the match will likely be overshadowed somewhat by Tim Paine and Ravi Ashwin's ugly exchange late in the day.
Australia were incredibly frustrated as the afternoon went on with Paine earlier having a go at the Indian batsmen as they took their time, nurse bruises after a bouncer barrage.
"Can we do something about this?" Paine fumed.
"Seriously, get on with it. Honestly."
One of the all-time saves from India.
After Vihari took a pad off at the end of the over, umpire Paul Reiffel said told Vihari that "you have to carry it" as he went to put it back on".
But he saved his most brutal words for Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ashwin survived 128 balls for 39 in an incredible rearguard action.
Paine was frustrated however as the Aussie couldn't snag a wicket and went for a new tactic.
"Geez, I can't wait to get you to the Gabba Ash," Paine said.
"Just like we want to get you to India," Ashwin replied. "It'll be your last series."
"Maybe, are you a selector here as well?" Paine said.
"The way you play…" Ashwin said but it was muffled on the microphone as the Aussies chimed in.
"At least my teammates like me, d***head," Paine said. "I've got a lot more Indian friends than you do. Even your teammates think you're a goose. Don't they. Every one."
Ashwin: "Tell me when you're done."
Paine: "I've can talk all day mate. You wait until you get to the Gabba pal."
Some ugly scenes in the middle.
As the next ball was bowled, Paine went again at Ashwin.
"How many IPL teams wanted you when you asked every single one of them to have you?" Paine continued. "If you captain, 'oh coming if I'm captain'," Paine added with a mocking accent.
The next two balls were quiet as Ashwin continued the discussion as he wandered off the pitch after a ball.
"I've already played a series in India," Paine said as Ashwin's side of the conversation was inaudible. "Can't remember my average, 60 something."
But Paine's horror day with the gloves continued as he dropped a third catch for the day in the next over of Vihari.
The Age's Ben Schneiders tweeted: "Tim Paine drops his third catch for the day after just calling Ashwin a “d***head”. Guess that’s karma".
i rewound it mate, he said c---, which is fine. i'm behind Australia but i reckon karma's served Tim Paine a beauty there, too much talking, carrying on like a pork chop
Pant's innings went on to change the game as India looked as though they could win with the plucky wicketkeeper at the crease.
He fell short of one of the great counterattacking centuries when he spliced a shot to gully with Pat Cummins taking the catch.
But Cheteshwar Pujara's 77 before he was bowled and Vihari and Ashwin's heroics stole the day as the match ended in an absorbing draw.
Updates
'Ridiculous': Aussie skipper's sledging slammed
Aussie skipper Tim Paine and Indian batsman Ravi Ashwin have been involved in a heated discussion with Paine slammed for taking it too far.
Ashwin was facing up but pulled out of a ball as Nathan Lyon was coming in.
It's when the Aussie skipper started jawing at the spinner.
"Geez, I can't wait to get you to the Gabba Ash," Paine said.
"Just like we want to get you to India," Ashwin replied. "It'll be your last series."
"Maybe, are you a selector here as well?" Paine said.
"The way you play…" Ashwin said.
"At least my teammates like me, d***head," Paine said. "I've got a lot more Indian friends than you do. Even your teammates think you're a goose. Don't they. Every one."
Matthew Wade was also heard on stump mic saying "Just don’t end up with a broken rib".
Ashwin: "Tell me when you're done."
Paine: "I've can talk all day mate. You wait until you get to the Gabba pal."
As the next ball was bowled, Paine went again at Ashwin.
"How many IPL teams wanted you when you asked every single one of them to have you?" Paine continued. "If you captain, 'oh coming from captain'," Paine added with a mocking accent.
The next two balls were quiet.
"I've already played a series in India," Paine said as Ashwin's side of the conversation was inaudible. "Can't remember my average, 60 something."
On Fox Sports, Kerry O'Keeffe said "It's not banter, it's pointed."
But Mike Hussey said it was "tactics, trying to put Ashwin off his concentration".
He also added that it was a sign of desperation.
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar was less kind in his assessment.
"It's ridiculous. It's unnecessary. What he said he's got more friend than Ravichandran Ashwin is unwanted and unnecessary," he said on Channel 7. "This game has been such a fabulous game of cricket. I tell you what, what Tim Paine said to Ravichandran Ashwin just waiting to get you to the Gabba, I can tell you, Bumrah and company are also waiting to get to the Gabba."
The next over saw Mitchell Starc draw a massive edge, with Pain diving across and dropping the catch as it bounced out of his hands off Vihari.
An hour to go...
Australia need some wickets and they need them soon with the match entering the last hour with India appearing more and more likely to claim a famous draw.
Held together by duct tape with Vihari suffering a hamstring injury, the side are battling away and leaving the Aussies frustrated.
Five wickets needed for Australia, 90 balls left for India.
'Seriously': Indian tactic gets under Aussie's skin
India are batting to save the Test match – and the Aussies don't like it.
In a sign that the Indian batsman are getting under Australia's skin, skipper Tim Paine has blown up after the Indian batsman kept putting on and taking off pads as well as getting treatment for the vicious bouncer barrage.
But as Vihari, who has a hamstring injury, took off another pad, the Aussie skipper called for the umpires to do something about the delay tactics.
"Can we do something about this?" Paine fumed.
"Seriously, get on with it. Honestly."
After Vihari took a pad off at the end of the over, umpire Paul Reiffel said told Vihari that "you have to carry it" as he went to put it back on".
Adam Gilchrist said that Paine was "showing his frustrations with the Indian batting saying every over they're changing something, their padding or getting treatment.
"A barrage of bouncers and now some verbals," Gilchrist added.
The tactic is working from India and frankly would be the same as any nation around the world in the same situation, likely looking to draw – or perhaps steal – the game.
When you can’t earn those wickets this is what people do. Dear Paine, one can understand your pain but stop acting like a peevish kid #DoddaMathu#AUSvIND
After 117 overs, Mark Waugh said it had been the longest India had batted away from home in a fourth innings since 1979
Drama amid brutal Aussies onslaught
Ravi Ashwin was given out when umpire Paul Wilson believed he'd gloved a ball that ballooned up and was taken by a diving Tim Paine but was saved by the DRS.
Ashwin went upstairs immediately and replays showed the ball clipped his arm guard and he was given a reprieve.
The Aussie quicks came out in the third session breathing fire as uneven bounce made life seriously tough for India. Ashwin was peppered with short balls and survived another caught behind shout when the ball appeared to graze his shoulder.
A leading edged just looped over Pat Cummins' head and Josh Hazlewood hit Ashwin on the chest.
Cummins was next to inflict some pain on Ashwin, slamming another short ball into his ribs as the off-spinner doubled over in pain and the physio ran out into the middle.
Sick of being a sitting duck, Ashwin took on a Cummins short ball with a pull shot at his next opportunity but was dropped at square leg.
Substitute fielder Sean Abbott dived to his right but despite his brilliant effort couldn't hold onto the tough chance.
Aussies lose another review before tea
Australia lost its second review when a confident shout for a close catch was turned down.
The Aussies thought Ravichandran Ashwin had inside edged a ball onto his pad before it ballooned up to short leg but on-field umpire Paul Reiffel disagreed – and so did the technology when Tim Paine went upstairs.
India went to tea at 5/280 as Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari kept their country's hopes of saving the Test alive.
Hazlewood breaks through with a beauty
India's resistance suffered a huge blow when Josh Hazlewood bowled Cheteshwar Pujara for 77.
The Aussie quick angled a ball in and seamed it away just enough to beat Pujara's defences and crash into the stumps to take what could be the game-changing wicket.
Pujara soaked up 205 balls in his valiant innings but without him, India's chances of saving – or even winning – the Test have dipped considerably.
Indian fans' joy at seeing Ravindra Jadeja padded up was tempered by Hanuma Vihari calling for the physio after grabbing at his hamstring following the completion of a quick single.
Mitchell Starc fractured and dislocated Jadeja's thumb with a bouncer in the first innings and there were question marks about whether he would be able to bat. However, Jadeja was sighted padded up in his whites outside the dressing room, suggesting he will come to the crease as India tries to save the Test.
Vihari was in real strife though, in obvious pain as the medicos strapped his right hamstring up.
Pucovski injury concerns after dive gone wrong
Debutant Will Pucovski left the field after appearing to hurt himself diving for a ball in the field.
The 22-year-old, who finally pulled on the baggy green after multiple false starts because of mental health issues and concussions, looked like he was dealing with discomfort in his shoulder after the fielding mishap.
Pucovski was later seen sitting outside the dressing room with his shirt off and a huge ice pack on his shoulder, suggesting he won't be back.
Pucovski justified the hype surrounding his international arrival with a classy half century in Australia's first innings.
Brain snap costs Pant a century
Rishabh Pant threw away a century – and a possible Indian victory – as he fell agonisingly short of his second century against Australia.
Pant was hitting boundaries at will, dancing down the track and smacking Nathan Lyon all over the place but on 97 the Aussie off-spinner won the duel.
Looking to bring up his ton with one lusty blow, Pant charged Lyon again but got a thick outside edge and the ball spooned into the safe hands of Pat Cummins at backward point.
'How on earth': India's questionable move infuriates Aussies
Questions are being asked about India's use of Rishabh Pant as he threatened to steal the Test from Australia.
The 23-year-old blasted the bowlers around the park in a superb counterattacking innings that ended when he was caught at backward point for 97.
However, Aussie cricket fans were curious as to how Pant was healthy enough to bat as brilliantly as he did, but was deemed unfit to take his place behind the stumps in Australia's second innings.
Pant required medical attention after being struck on the elbow while batting on day three. He was replaced in the field by substitute wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who took a brilliant catch in Australia's second innings after Pant had spilled some simple chances on day one.
Cricket journalist Peter Lalor said it was "rubbish" Pant was allowed not to keep wicket when he's clearly fit enough to bat as well as he is today.
“Everyone’s getting a bit anxious and I’m annoyed,” he said on SEN. “This Rishabh Pant thing, this is just rubbish.
“How on earth can a bloke be not fit to wicketkeep and you just happen to have an even better wicketkeeper waiting in the cupboard?
“So the better wicketkeeper goes out there, does the job, pulls off a catch that I reckon nine times out of 10 Rishabh Pant would have dropped, and then suddenly Rishabh Pant is fit enough to bat.
“They’re basically playing with 12 players. Rubbish.
“If you can hold a bat, you can wear a pair of gloves and fumble a few balls like he does on occasion.
“That’s my point, I find this real ridiculous.”
Channel 9 sports reporter Michael Atkinson agreed. "The way Pant is batting, he should have been made to keep yesterday. That arm doesn’t seem to be causing too much concern," he tweeted.
"Sorry but in Test cricket (or any multi day sporting contest) you don’t just get a day off."
Channel 7 journalist Andrew McCormack added: "So Rishabh Pant promoted up the order and blasting them to all parts but was unable to take his place behind the stumps for all 87 overs of Australia's 2nd innings…
"No bandage on injured arm and not one sign of discomfort. Hmmm."
