Catukkanipāta 42

Numbered Discourses 4.42

5. With Rohitassa

Ways of Answering Questions

1 “Mendicants, there are these four ways of answering questions. What four? There is a question that should be answered categorically. There is a question that should be answered analytically. There is a question that should be answered with a counter-question. There is a question that should be set aside.

These are the four ways of answering questions.

2 One is stated categorically,

another analytically,

a third with a counter-question,

while a fourth is set aside.

3 That sort of mendicant,

who knows each of these,

in line with good principles,

is said to be skilled

in the four kinds of questions.

4 They’re intimidating, hard to defeat,

deep, and hard to crush.

They’re expert in both

what the meaning is and what it isn’t.

5 Shunning what is not the meaning,

an astute person grasps the meaning.

An attentive one, comprehending the meaning,

is said to be astute.”