Ukegataki hito no sugata ni ukabiidete korizu ya tare mo mata shizumubeki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

受けがたき人の姿に浮かび出でて
懲りずや誰もまた沈むべき

Roma-ji: Ukegataki hito no sugata ni ukabiidete korizu ya tare mo mata shizumubeki
English Translation: Having surfaced up
into a human form, so hard
to be given at all,
will everyone, never learning,
sink back down once more?
Meaning: Having risen into a human form, so hard to be granted, will everyone, never learning, sink down once again?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1751

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fifth of the poems on turning from the world and the last of four by Saigyō. Having been born into a human form, so hard to attain, will everyone, never learning, sink again into the world of delusion? He laments those who waste their human birth instead of turning to the Buddhist path, and admonishes himself.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," is Saigyō. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; he served Retired Emperor Toba as a guard of the Northern Quarters but took vows while young. He traveled the provinces composing poems, and his personal collection is the Sankashū.
"A human form hard to receive" draws on the Buddhist teaching that it is hard to be born human.

The first line, "ukegataki," means "hard to receive," a Buddhist term for how rarely one is born human. The same word is used in 1755 of this book.
The second line, "hito no sugata ni," means "in human form," having received a human birth amid the cycle of the six realms.
The third line, "ukabiidete," means "having risen up out of the world of delusion and been born." It pairs with "sink" in the last line.
In the fourth line, "korizu ya tare mo," "ya" is a particle of question. It means "not having learned from sinking in delusion before."
The last line, "mata shizumubeki," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive "beki." Through the contrast of rising and sinking again, it laments the folly of those who do not turn to the Buddhist path.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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