わたつ海の底より来つるほどもなく
この身ながらに身をぞ極むる
この身ながらに身をぞ極むる
- Roma-ji
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Watatsumi no soko yori kitsuru hodo mo naku kono mi nagara ni mi o zo kiwamuru
- English Translation
-
From the deep sea's floor
she has come, and it is not long
since then, yet at once
in this very body she
attains the body supreme.
- Meaning
- Barely arrived from the depths of the sea, she attains the body of a buddha in the very body she has.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1927
Headnote: "When he had people compose poems on the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra, on the meaning of the Devadatta chapter."
This is the second poem in the sequence on sacred sites and Buddhist services. It tells of the dragon girl, newly come from the dragon palace at the bottom of the sea, attaining buddhahood in her very body. According to the headnote, it was composed on the meaning of the Devadatta chapter when the poet had others compose poems on the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra.
It expresses wonder at the breadth of salvation taught in the Lotus Sutra: even one who is female and in dragon form can at once become a buddha.
The author, "Hōjōji Nyūdō Saki no Sesshō Daijō Daijin," is Fujiwara no Michinaga. Son of Fujiwara no Kaneie, he made his daughters imperial consorts, rose to regent and chancellor, and after taking vows built Hōjō-ji.
Poems on the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra render the meaning of each chapter in one waka apiece. The Devadatta chapter tells how an eight-year-old dragon girl came from the dragon palace in the sea and instantly became a buddha.
The first line, "watatsumi no," is a word for the sea, pointing to the dragon palace where the dragon girl lives. The arrangement moves by association of water from the "Kamei water" of the preceding poem to the sea.
The second line, "soko yori kitsuru," tells that the dragon girl came from the dragon palace at the bottom of the sea.
The third line, "hodo mo naku," means "no time at all since she came," emphasizing the swiftness of her awakening.
The fourth line, "kono mi nagara ni," means "in this very body," showing that she became a buddha at once while still in dragon form.
The last line, "mi o zo kiwamuru," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive "kiwamuru." Repeating "mi" from the fourth line, it sharpens the reversal by which a dragon's body attains the body of a buddha.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Michinaga
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Nigori naki kamei no mizu o musubiagete kokoro no chiri o susugitsuru kana
- Next Poem
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Kazu naranu inochi wa nani ka oshikaran nori toku hodo o shinobu bakari zo