Pañha byākaraṇa sutta, the 4 ways of answering questions

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Anguttara nikaya (bhikkhu bodhi translation)

4.42 (2) Questions

“Bhikkhus, there are these four ways of answering questions. What four?

(1) There is a question to be answered categorically;

(2) there is a question to be answered after making a distinction;

(3) there is a question to be answered with a counter-question; and

(4) there is a question to be set aside. These are the four ways of answering questions.

” One kind is given a categorical answer, another is answered after making a distinction; to the third, one should raise a counter-question, but the fourth should be set aside. When a bhikkhu knows how to answer each type in the appropriate way, they say that he is skilled in the four kinds of questions.

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Bodhi, The Numerical Discourses note 464:

These are the four methods of formulating questions; see 4: 42. Mp: “( 1) A question that should be answered categorically (ekaṃsavyākaṇanīya pañha) is, for example, ‘Is the eye impermanent?’ which should be answered categorically with ‘Yes, it is impermanent.’

(2) A question that should be answered after making a distinction (vibhajjavyākaraṇīya pañha) is, for example, ‘Is the impermanent the eye?’ which should be answered by making a distinction: ‘Not only the eye, but the ear, nose, etc., are also impermanent.’

(3) A question that should be answered with a counter-question (paṭipucchāvyākaraṇīya pañha) is, for example, ‘Does the eye have the same nature as the ear?’ One should answer this by asking, ‘With respect to what?’ If they reply, ‘With respect to seeing,’ one should answer no. If they reply, ‘With respect to impermanence,’ one should answer yes.

(4) A question that should be set aside (ṭhapanīya pañha) is, for example, ‘Is the soul the same as the body?’ This should be set aside without answering it, saying, ‘This has not been declared by the Tathāgata.’”

In my opinion, better examples of “a question that should be answered after making a distinction” are the Buddha’s response to Subha at MN 99.4, II 197,9–18; his response to the brahmin Ujjaya at 4: 39, II 42,14–28; and the householder Vajjiyamāhita’s response to the wanderers at 10: 94, V 190,14–20.”

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