寂寞の苔の岩戸のしづけきに
涙の雨の降らぬ日ぞなき
涙の雨の降らぬ日ぞなき
- Roma-ji
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Jakumaku no koke no iwato no shizukeki ni namida no ame no furanu hi zo naki
- English Translation
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In the solitude
of the mossy door of stone,
within its stillness,
of a rain of tears that falls not,
there is never a single day.
- Meaning
- In the stillness of this moss-grown cave, where no human voice is heard, not a day passes without a rain of tears.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1923
Headnote: "Composed while in retreat at the Shō cave of Mitake."
This is the eighth poem in the opening sequence of poems attributed to deities and eminent monks. Secluded in a moss-covered cave where not a sound is heard, the poet says there is no day his tears do not fall, expressing the heart of his days of practice. According to the headnote, it was composed while he was in retreat at the Shō cave of Mitake.
In the midst of solitary practice in a cave deep in the mountains, tears flow day after day, whether of gratitude or grief, revealing the heart of a seeker of the Way.
The author, "Nichizō Shōnin," was a Shingon monk of the mid-Heian period, also called Dōken. He practiced at Kinpusen in Yoshino and is known from a tale in which he journeyed through the realm of the dead and returned to life.
Mitake refers to Kinpusen in Yoshino, and the Shō cave is a rock cave deep in the Ōmine mountains beyond it, a place where mountain ascetics secluded themselves for practice.
"Jakumaku" is said to derive from the phrase "jakumaku mu ninshō" ("silent, with no human voice") in the Teacher of the Law chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
In the text, the character "to" of "iwato" carries the note "ya, variant," indicating that another manuscript reads "iwaya." Here the text's reading, "iwato," is adopted.
The first line, "jakumaku no," is a Sino-Japanese word for utter silence, bringing a scriptural term directly into the poem.
The second line, "koke no iwato no," is the moss-covered mouth of the cave, suggesting a long retreat where no one visits.
The third line, "shizukeki ni," means "in that stillness," restating the opening "jakumaku" in native Japanese.
The fourth line, "namida no ame no," likens the ceaseless tears to rain. Setting rain, something that makes sound, within the hushed cave creates a telling contrast.
The last line, "furanu hi zo naki," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive "naki," declaring firmly that there is not a single day without tears.
- Author
- Nichizō
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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