昔見し月の光をしるべにて
今宵や君が西へ行くらん
今宵や君が西へ行くらん
- Roma-ji
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Mukashi mishi tsuki no hikari o shirube nite koyoi ya kimi ga nishi e yukuran
- English Translation
-
The moon we once saw,
by the light of it alone
as your guiding light,
is it tonight that you, my friend,
go forth toward the west?
- Meaning
- Guided by the light of the moon we once watched together, is it tonight that you go forth into the west?
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1977
Headnote: "After someone had passed away, at a memorial service of sutra copying, composed on the meaning of 'at once goes to the World of Peace and Bliss.'"
This is the fifth poem in the closing sequence of exchanges and moon poems turned toward the western paradise. Addressing one who has died, it asks whether tonight, guided by the moonlight they once watched together, the departed is going to the Western Pure Land. According to the headnote, it was composed on the meaning of "at once goes to the World of Peace and Bliss" at a memorial service of sutra copying held after someone had died.
It expresses the wish, and the faith, that the departed, guided by the moonlight they once viewed together, will be reborn in paradise.
The author, "Sensai Shōnin," was a Tendai monk of the late Heian period who founded Ungo-ji in Higashiyama, Kyoto.
A memorial sutra-copying service is a Buddhist observance in which people copy and dedicate sutras to pray for the repose of the departed and to form a bond with the Buddha. "At once goes to the World of Peace and Bliss" is a phrase in the Medicine King chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that those who hear this sutra and practice as it teaches will, at life's end, be reborn in Amida Buddha's World of Peace and Bliss.
The first line, "mukashi mishi," means "once seen," using the attributive of the past "ki." It recalls days spent viewing the moon together with the departed while alive.
The second line, "tsuki no hikari o," is the light of the moon crossing westward, a light that guides to the Western Pure Land.
The third line, "shirube nite," means "as a guide." It uses the same conceit as "the moonlight I thought a guide for going west" in 1975 of this book, here as the guide for the departed's rebirth.
The fourth line, "koyoi ya kimi ga," is a question with the particle "ya," marking tonight's service and addressing the departed.
The last line, "nishi e yukuran," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive "ran." It gently transposes the scripture's "at once goes to the World of Peace and Bliss" into "going west."
- Author
- Senzai
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tachiirade kumoma o wakeshi tsukikage wa matanu keshiki ya sora ni mieken
- Next Poem
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Yami harete kokoro no sora ni sumu tsuki wa nishi no yamabe ya chikaku naruran