Snp 5.10 - Sn 5:10 Kappa’s Question
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/StNp/StNp5_10.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
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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.