AN 4:42 · Questions (Pañha Sutta)
“There are these four ways of answering questions. Which four? There are questions that should be answered categorically [straightforwardly yes, no, this, that]. There are questions that should be answered with an analytical answer [defining or redefining the terms]. There are questions that should be answered with a counter-question. There are questions that should be put aside. These are the four ways of answering questions.”
First the categorical statement,
then the analytical statement,
third, the type to be counter-questioned,
& fourth, the one to be put aside.
Any monk who knows which is which,
in line with the Dhamma,
is said to be skilled
in the four types of questions:
hard to overcome, hard to beat,
profound, hard to defeat.
He knows what’s worthwhile
& what’s not,
proficient in (recognizing) both,
he
rejects the worthless,
grasps the worthwhile.
He’s called
one who has broken through
to what’s worthwhile,
enlightened,
wise.
See also: DN 9; MN 2; MN 58; MN 72; SN 12:35; SN 12:46; SN 22:82; SN 22:85–86; SN 44:10; AN 3:74; AN 4:77; AN 5:165; AN 7:51; AN 10:93—96
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).
