Tachikaeri kurushiki umi ni oku ami mo fukaki e ni koso kokoro hikurame - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

たちかへり苦しき海に置く網も
ふかきえにこそ心ひくらめ

Roma-ji: Tachikaeri kurushiki umi ni oku ami mo fukaki e ni koso kokoro hikurame
English Translation: Returning once more,
into the sea of suffering
the net that is cast—
toward the deep inlet, the deep bond,
surely the heart draws it in.
Meaning: Even the net cast again into the sea of suffering must be drawn, heart and all, toward the deep inlet—toward those bound to us by deep ties.
Commentary: Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1940

Headnote: "The Pleasure of Guiding Those with Whom Bonds Were Formed."
This is the fourth poem in the sequence on the Ten Pleasures of paradise, closing that sequence. It says that even the net of salvation, cast again into the sea of suffering by one returned from paradise, must be drawn by the heart toward those of deep bond. The headnote gives as its topic the Pleasure of Guiding Those with Whom Bonds Were Formed, one of the Ten Pleasures.
The joy of one reborn in paradise returning to save those with whom he formed bonds in this world is entrusted to the scene of fishermen hauling nets.
No author is named in the text; continuing from the preceding poem, this is a poem by Jakuren Hōshi, whose lay name was Fujiwara no Sadanaga. A nephew of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he became Shunzei's adopted son. After taking vows he remained active as a poet and was appointed a compiler of the Shin Kokinshū, but died before its completion.
The Pleasure of Guiding Those with Whom Bonds Were Formed is the joy of one reborn in paradise being able to guide and welcome those with whom he formed bonds in this world. This text writes the headnote with a variant character.

The first line, "tachikaeri," speaks of returning once more from paradise to this world.
The second line, "kurushiki umi ni," softens the term "sea of suffering," which likens this world, full of delusion and pain, to the sea.
The third line, "oku ami mo," is the net that draws living beings up to salvation, likening the Buddha's saving grace to a fishing net.
In the fourth line, "fukaki e ni koso," "e" is a pivot word joining a deep "inlet" and a deep "bond." The particle "koso" singles out those with deep bonds.
In the last line, "kokoro hikurame," "hiku" is a pivot word joining "hauling" the net and the heart being "drawn." The kakari-musubi of "koso" closes with the realis "rame." It echoes 1925 in this book, where Genshin vows to welcome those he knows and those he does not after his rebirth, in likewise singing of salvation after rebirth.
Author: Jakuren
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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