Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa

3.4.12 Pañhabyākaraṇasuttaṃ

How Questions Should Get Answered!

Pañhabyākaraṇasuttaṃ How Questions Should Get Answered!

“Cattārimāni, bhikkhave, pañhabyākaraṇāni.

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

Katamāni cattāri?

What are the four?

Atthi, bhikkhave, pañho ekaṃsabyākaraṇīyo;

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

atthi, bhikkhave, pañho vibhajjabyākaraṇīyo;

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

atthi, bhikkhave, pañho paṭipucchābyākaraṇīyo;.

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

atthi, bhikkhave, pañho ṭhapanīyo.

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

Imāni kho, bhikkhave, cattāri pañhabyākaraṇānī”ti.

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

“Ekaṃsavacanaṃ ekaṃ,

vibhajjavacanāparaṃ;

tatiyaṃ paṭipuccheyya,

catutthaṃ pana ṭhāpaye.

“Straightforward first,

then well explained;

Counter questioned the third and

omitted the fourth should be.

Yo ca tesaṃ tattha tattha,

jānāti anudhammataṃ,

catupañhassa kusalo,

āhu bhikkhuṃ tathāvidhaṃ.

A Bhikkhu, who thus knows the correct way

to reply at any situation,

is called:

‘Skilled in the four modes to reply’;

Durāsado duppasaho,

gambhīro duppadhaṃsiyo;

atho atthe anatthe ca,

ubhayassa hoti kovido.

Difficult to conquer,

hard to overcome,

profound, not vulnerable,

Thus likewise skilled in good and bad.

Anatthaṃ parivajjeti,

atthaṃ gaṇhāti paṇḍito;

atthābhisamayā dhīro,

paṇḍitoti pavuccatī”ti.

A wise one like this knows to reject the false

and to comprehend the truth,

Thus he gets called:

‘Established in grasping the profound’ ”.

Rohitassavaggo, Catukkanipātapāḷi, Aṅguttaranikāyo


Last modified: Friday, 1 August 2025, 3:01 PM