Kō tsukusu Mitarashigawa no kame nareba nori no ukigi ni awanu narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

こふつくす御手洗川の亀なれば
法の浮木に逢はぬなりけり

Roma-ji: Kō tsukusu Mitarashigawa no kame nareba nori no ukigi ni awanu narikeri
English Translation: Through endless kalpas
in Mitarashi River
a turtle I dwell,
and so I never come
upon the floating log of the Law.
Meaning: I am a turtle that has spent endless kalpas in the Mitarashi River, and so I never meet the floating log of the Buddha's Law.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1337

Headnote: "Composed on making a turtle in silver as an offering for the Lotus Sutra lectures of the Imperial Lady"
The poet says that being a turtle that has spent endless kalpas in the Mitarashi River, she never meets the floating log of the Buddha's Law. The headnote shows it was composed when she made a turtle in silver as an offering for the Eight Lectures on the Lotus Sutra held by the Imperial Lady, who was Fujiwara no Senshi, the Higashi Sanjō-in, mother of Emperor Ichijō. Drawing on the teaching that meeting the Buddha's Law is as rare as a blind turtle in the ocean meeting the hole in a floating log, she says that as the Kamo Priestess serving the gods she cannot come near the Law, laying herself over a turtle living in the Mitarashi River of the Kamo shrine.
The author, written as "Kamo Priestess," is Princess Senshi. A daughter of Emperor Murakami, she served for many years as Kamo Priestess through the reigns of five emperors and was called the Great Kamo Priestess.
It draws on the parable of the blind turtle and the floating log found in the chapter on King Wonderful Adornment and elsewhere in the Lotus Sutra.

First line, "kō tsukusu," seems to pivot "kō" between "kalpa," a Buddhist term for an immense span of time, and "kou," to long for the Law. It means "spending endless kalpas."
Second line, "Mitarashigawa no," means "of the Mitarashi River" of the Kamo shrine, the shrine she serves.
Third line, "kame nareba," means "since I am a turtle," laying the silver turtle of the offering over herself as Kamo Priestess.
Fourth line, "nori no ukigi ni," means "the floating log of the Law," the parable of the blind turtle and the floating log.
Final line, "awanu narikeri," means "I never meet it, I find," with "keri" a sigh of realization, lamenting that as one serving the gods she cannot meet the Buddha's Law.
Author: Princess Senshi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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