[434] 10. "For those standing in the midst of the lake," (said the venerable Kappa,)
"when the flood (ogha) has arisen with its great peril,
for those overcome by aging and death (jarāmaccu),
declare an island, dear sir;
and do you point out to me an island,
so that this may not come to be again."
"For those standing in the midst of the lake," ("Kappa," said the Blessed One,)
"when the flood has arisen with its great peril,
for those overcome by aging and death,
I declare an island to you, Kappa.
"Owning nothing (akiñcana), free of grasping (anādāna) —
this is the island, with nothing beyond it.
I call it 'Nibbāna,'
the utter destruction of aging and death.
"Having understood this, those who are mindful (satā),
fully quenched in this very life (diṭṭhadhammābhinibbutā),
do not go under Māra's sway;
they are not Māra's servants."
The Questions of the Student Kappa (Kappamāṇavakapañhā), the tenth.
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In the Suttanipāta, in the Pārāyanavagga, the fifth [chapter]:
the eleventh — the Questions of Jatukaṇṇī (Jatukaṇṇīpañhā).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.