an.4.42 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Questions

“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 (qualified) 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 answer,
then the qualified,
third, the type to be counter-questioned,
& fourth, the one to be set 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,
prudent,
wise.

- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

- Editor: Gabriel Laera

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Ways of Answering Questions

“Mendicants, there are these four ways of answering questions.
What four?
There is a question that should be answered definitively.
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.
One is stated definitively,
another analytically,
a third with a counter-question,
while a fourth is set aside.
A mendicant who knows each of these,
in line with good principles,
is said to be skilled
in the four kinds of questions.
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.
Rejecting what is not the meaning,
an astute person grasps the meaning.
A wise one, comprehending the meaning,
is said to be astute.”