置く露の光をだにぞ宿さまし
をぐらの山にて何もとめけん
をぐらの山にて何もとめけん
- Roma-ji
-
Oku tsuyu no hikari o dani zo yadosamashi
Ogura no yama nite nani motomeken - English Translation
-
Even the light of resting dew might well lodge—
on Mount Ogura, what was it you sought?
- Meaning
- If it were truly the Buddha’s stone begging bowl, there would be at least a glimmer of light like dew; yet this bowl is nothing but blackened stone—what, on Mount Ogura, were you seeking?
- Commentary
-
Princess Kaguya’s reply to Prince Ishitsukuri’s poem, “Over sea and hills,
I spent my heart upon the road;
no sacred bowl found—
from the bowl that was not there,
blood-red tears flowed at last.”
This is thought to allude to the Shuijing zhu: “In the Western Regions there is the Buddha’s begging bowl; it still exists today. Its color is deep blue-black and it shines.”
Though he brings a stone bowl known to be a fake, he still seeks to obtain Princess Kaguya; she sees through Prince Ishitsukuri’s selfish intent.
- Source
- Taketori Monogatari
- Other
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- On plum-blossomed boughs, a bush warbler comes to rest; calling for the spring— yet still, though it calls and calls, the snow keeps falling down.
- Over sea and hills, I spent my heart upon the road; no sacred bowl found— from the bowl that was not there, blood-red tears flowed at last.
- Before Mount White, might even light be lost? Though I cast away the bowl, I still place my hope.
- Though idly I would cast my life away, Had I not plucked the jeweled branch, I would not have returned.