In the Paali Primer, Lesson 3, one of the vocabulary words is "diipa"
which is translated as "island" or "lamp."
In the Buddha's final exhortation at his parinibbaana, he tells
us "...to be islands unto yourselves..." (Diigha Nikaaya 16, Pt. 2,
Verse 33)
Is the word used in that verse for "island" the word
"diipa?" If so,
is this a play on words with "lamp?" ("Be lamps unto
yourselves.")
Piya's reply:
The Diigha Commentary explains atta,diipa as meeting to "dwell, having made
the self [yourselves like an island in the great ocean] in the great ocean"
(mahaa,samudda,gata,diipa.m viya attaana.m diipa.m pati.t.thita.m katvaa
viharatha, DA 2:548, SA 2:268, 3:204).
The best clue we have in rendering diipa here as "island" is found in the
Sanskrit version of the passage. In Sanskrit, diipa means lamp; while
dviipa means island (or continent). Both words become diipa in Pali. Hence
the ambiguity.
However, in the Mahaavastu, the Sanskrit passage on these last words of the
Buddha read:
aatma,dviipa bhik.savo viharatha ananya,dviipa.h aatma'sara.naa.h
ananya,'sara.na.h (Senart, Le mahavastum 1:334)
Similarly the Gandhaarii Dharmapada (Brough 209 f) & the Tibetan texts have
glin (island) and not "mar me" (a light of lamp).