[122] **"I ask you this, Blessed One; tell it to me"** — *"I ask" (pucchā)*: there are three kinds of question — a question to illuminate what has not been seen, a question to compare notes on what has been seen, and a question to cut off perplexity.
What is a question to illuminate what has not been seen? Ordinarily, a characteristic is unknown, unseen, unweighed, unjudged, not made clear, not made evident; one asks a question for the knowing, the seeing, the weighing, the judging of it, for the sake of making it clear, for the sake of making it evident. This is a question to illuminate what has not been seen.
What is a question to compare notes on what has been seen? Ordinarily, a characteristic is known, seen, weighed, judged, made clear, made evident; one asks a question for the sake of comparing notes with other wise persons. This is a question to compare notes on what has been seen.
What is a question to cut off perplexity? Ordinarily, one has fallen into uncertainty, fallen into perplexity, become of two minds: "Is it thus, or is it not? What indeed is it? How indeed is it?" One asks a question for the sake of cutting off perplexity. This is a question to cut off perplexity. These are the three kinds of question.
There are another three kinds of question: a question by humans, a question by non-humans, and a question by a mind-created figure (nimmita).
What is a question by humans? Humans approach the Buddha, the Blessed One, and ask a question: bhikkhus ask, bhikkhunīs ask, laymen ask, laywomen ask, kings ask, khattiyas ask, brahmins ask, vessas ask, suddas ask, householders ask, those gone forth ask. This is a question by humans.
What is a question by non-humans? Non-humans approach the Buddha, the Blessed One, and ask a question: nāgas ask, supaṇṇas ask, yakkhas ask, asuras ask, gandhabbas ask, the Great Kings ask, Indas ask, Brahmās ask, deities ask. This is a question by non-humans.
What is a question by a mind-created figure? The form that the Blessed One creates — mind-made, complete in all limbs and parts, not deficient in faculties — that created figure approaches the Buddha, the Blessed One, and asks a question, and the Blessed One answers. This is a question by a mind-created figure. These are the three kinds of question.
There are another three kinds of question: a question about one's own good, a question about the good of others, a question about the good of both.
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the good pertaining to this present life, a question about the good pertaining to the life to come, a question about the ultimate good.
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the blameless good, a question about the good free from defilement, a question about the good of cleansing (vodāna).
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the past, a question about the future, a question about the present.
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the internal, a question about the external, a question about both the internal and the external.
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the wholesome, a question about the unwholesome, a question about the indeterminate (abyākata).
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the aggregates (khandha), a question about the elements (dhātu), a question about the sense bases (āyatana).
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), a question about the right exertions (sammappadhāna), a question about the bases for success (iddhipāda).
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the faculties (indriya), a question about the powers (bala), a question about the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga).
There are another three kinds of question: a question about the path (magga), a question about the fruit (phala), a question about Nibbāna.
*"I ask you this"*: I ask you this, I beg you this, I request you this, I invite your grace in this: "Speak to me." Therefore it is said, "I ask you this." *"Blessed One" (Bhagavā)*: this is a term of reverence … a designation born of realization (sacchikā paññatti), namely, "Blessed One." *"Tell it to me"*: tell it, point it out, teach it, declare it, establish it, disclose it, analyze it, make it plain, reveal it. Therefore it is said, "I ask you this, Blessed One; tell it to me."
Therefore that brahmin said:
To the unstirred one, the seer of the root
(thus said the venerable Puṇṇaka),
in need I have come with a question:
Dependent on what have seers, men,
khattiyas, and brahmins, many here in the world,
performed sacrifice to the deities?
I ask you this, Blessed One; tell it to me.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.