わたつ海の深きに沈むいさりせで
保つかひある法を求めよ
保つかひある法を求めよ
- Roma-ji
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Watatsumi no fukaki ni shizumu isari sede tamotsu kai aru nori o motomeyo
- English Translation
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In the ocean's deep,
sinking down, do not fish there—
rather, seek instead
the Law that is worth the keeping,
the Law with a shell of worth.
- Meaning
- Do not fish in ways that sink you into the ocean's depths; seek instead the Law that is truly worth keeping.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1961
Headnote: "When composing poems on the Ten Precepts, the Precept Against Killing."
This is the first poem in the sequence on the Ten Precepts. It warns against fishing that makes one sink into the depths of the sea, urging instead the pursuit of a Law worth keeping. According to the headnote, it was composed on the Precept Against Killing when poems on the Ten Precepts were composed.
Taking fishing as the representative act of killing, it warns against sinking into the evil paths through the sin of taking life, and teaches keeping the precepts and seeking the Law.
No author is named in the text; continuing from the preceding poem, this is a poem by Jakuzen Hōshi, who, whose lay name was Fujiwara no Yorinari, was a son of Fujiwara no Tametada. With his elder brothers Jakunen and Jakuchō he lived in retirement at Ōhara, and the three were called the Three Jaku of Ōhara. He was a close friend of Saigyō.
The Ten Precepts here are the ten grave precepts of the Mahāyāna taught in the Brahmā Net Sutra, consisting of ten prohibitions such as against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and selling alcohol. Four of these poems are included in this book. The Precept Against Killing forbids the taking of life.
The first line, "watatsumi no," is a word for the sea, marking the place of fishing.
The second line, "fukaki ni shizumu," means sinking into the depths of the sea, overlaid with sinking into the evil paths through the sin of killing.
The third line, "isari sede," means "without fishing," using the negative conjunctive particle "de." Fishing is named as the representative act of killing.
In the fourth line, "tamotsu kai aru," "kai" is a pivot word joining the "worth" of keeping the precepts and "shellfish" of the sea. "Sea," "sink," "fishing," and "shellfish" are associated words.
The last line, "nori o motomeyo," is an imperative, urging strongly to seek the Buddha's Law. It closes with the contrast: rather than sinking to the seabed, seek not the sea's shellfish but a Law worth keeping.
- Author
- Jakuzen
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Wakarenishi sono omokage no koishiki yume ni mo mieyo yama no ha no tsuki
- Next Poem
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Ukikusa no hitoha naritomo isogakure omoi na kake so okitsu shiranami