5:10  Kappa’s Question

For one stranded in the middle of the lake,

in the flood of great danger—birth—

overwhelmed with aging & death:

Tell me the island, dear sir,

and show me the island

so that this may not happen again.

The Buddha:

For one stranded in the middle of the lake,

in the flood of great danger—birth—

overwhelmed with aging & death,

Kappa, I will tell you the island.1

Having nothing, free

of clinging:

That is the island,

there is no other.

That’s unbinding, I tell you,

the total ending of aging & death.

Those knowing this, mindful,

fully unbound

in the here-&-now,

don’t serve as Māra’s servants,

don’t come under Māra’s sway.2

vv. 1092–1095

Notes

1. On the Dhamma as an island, see DN 16.

2. On Māra’s sway, see SN 4:19, SN 35:115, SN 35:189, and SN 35:199.