In what way was it
that a bond was tied between
us in lives before,
that in this world we should have
such a barrier between

Meaning

What kind of bond can we have tied in an earlier life, that in this one such a wall should stand between us?

Commentary

Part One: Momiji no Ga

　In the second month Fujitsubo gave birth to a son. Publicly he was the Emperor's child; in fact he was Genji's. Genji went to the Sanjo residence on the pretext of an imperial errand and asked, through Omyobu, to be received, but Fujitsubo firmly refused. Unable even to see her, he spoke this poem to Omyobu. She answered with a poem, but the meeting never took place.

　"A bond tied in the past" means karmic connection from a former life, following the thinking of the age, which read present circumstances as the fruit of an earlier existence. "Such a wall between us" states the fact that he cannot see the woman who has borne his child. He turns no reproach on her and lays it all to something unexplainable—the karma of a former life—and in that the helplessness of his suffering shows.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

In what way was it that a bond was tied between us in lives before, that in this world we should have such a barrier between

In what way was it
that a bond was tied between
us in lives before,
that in this world we should have
such a barrier between