1“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.

2One is stated definitively,
another analytically,
a third with a counter-question,
while a fourth is set aside.

3A mendicant who knows each of these,
in line with good principles,
is said to be skilled
in the four kinds of questions.

4They’re intimidating, hard to defeat,
deep, and hard to crush.
They’re expert in both
what the meaning is and what it isn’t.

5Rejecting what is not the meaning,
an astute person grasps the meaning.
A wise one, comprehending the meaning,
is called ‘astute’.”

1"Cattārimāni, bhikkhave, pañhabyākaraṇāni. Katamāni cattāri? Atthi, bhikkhave, pañho ekaṁsabyākaraṇīyo; atthi, bhikkhave, pañho vibhajjabyākaraṇīyo; atthi, bhikkhave, pañho paṭipucchābyākaraṇīyo; atthi, bhikkhave, pañho ṭhapanīyo.

Imāni kho, bhikkhave, cattāri pañhabyākaraṇānīti.

2Ekaṁsavacanaṁ ekaṁ,
vibhajjavacanāparaṁ;
Tatiyaṁ paṭipuccheyya,
catutthaṁ pana ṭhāpaye.

3Yo ca tesaṁ tattha tattha,
jānāti anudhammataṁ;
Catupañhassa kusalo,
āhu bhikkhuṁ tathāvidhaṁ.

4Durāsado duppasaho,
gambhīro duppadhaṁsiyo;
Atho atthe anatthe ca,
ubhayassa hoti kovido.

5Anatthaṁ parivajjeti,
atthaṁ gaṇhāti paṇḍito;
Atthābhisamayā dhīro,
paṇḍitoti pavuccatī"ti.

Dutiyaṁ.