DRAFT ON ONCE IN A BLUE MOON ACADEMIA’S PROPOSED FUTURE PROJECT: ĀTMADIPA

Once in a Blue Moon Academia

10/02/2021

Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay ⤡

Akhar Bandyopadhyay ⤡

Abstract

1. A SHORT NOTE ON THE MEANING OF ĀTMADIPA

“tasmātihānanda, āttadīpā viharatha āttasaraṇā anaññasaraṇā,

dhammadīpā dhammasaraṇā anaññasaraṇā.”

Mahaparinibbana sūtta (DN 16)

Translation 1:“So, Ānanda, be a lamp unto yourself,
Refuge unto yourself,

Without taking recourse to other,
With Dhamma as your lamp,
Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge.”

Translation 2: “Thus, Ānanda, be an island unto yourself,Refuge unto yourself,Without taking recourse to other,
With Dhamma as your island,
Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge.”

This was the advice of the Buddha to disciple Ānanda, while Ānanda was distressed about the deadly sickness of the Blessed One. The Tathāgata uttered these words a short while before their final journey to Kusinara (Kushinagara), where he achieved mahā-parinirvāna. (He gave this advice also at another time as recorded in āttadipa sūtta, Samyutta nikaya22.43.)

Regarding two translations:

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