Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

“There are, Bhikkhus, four ways of answering a question.

What are the four?

There is, Bhikkhus, the question which requires a direct reply;

there is, Bhikkhus, the question which needs further investigation;

there is, Bhikkhus, the question which requires a counter question and

there is, Bhikkhus, the question which needs to be rejected.

These are, Bhikkhus, the four ways of answering a question.

“Straightforward first, then well explained
Counter questioned the third and omitted the fourth should be,

A Bhikkhu, who thus knows the correct way to reply at any situation
Is called: ‘Skilled in the four modes to reply‘

Difficult to conquer, hard to overcome, profound, not vulnerable,
Thus likewise skilled in good and bad,

A wise one like this knows to reject the false and to comprehend the truth
And he is called: ‘Established in grasping the profound’.”

* Pañhabyākaraṇasuttaṃ: Pañha + byākaraṇa + suttaṃ: Question + explanation + sutta.