朝ごとに払ふ塵だにあるものを
今幾世とてたゆむなるらん
今幾世とてたゆむなるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Asa goto ni harau chiri dani aru mono o ima ikuyo tote tayumu naruran
- English Translation
-
Even the dust
that we sweep each morning
settles once again;
how many lives do you think
are yours, that you grow so slack?
- Meaning
- Even the dust you sweep away each morning comes back again, so how many lifetimes do you think you have left, that you grow so lax?
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Lament Poems 1341
Headnote: "Composed when a priest of fine appearance shook awake, in a dream, a man engaged in religious practice who, feeling it hard, had been unable to rise that night"
The poem asks how many lifetimes one thinks are left, to grow so lax, when even the dust swept each morning settles again. The headnote shows it was composed in a dream on a night when someone practicing the Buddhist way found it too hard and could not rise, and a priest of fine appearance appeared and shook him awake. Laying the passions that pile up without end over the dust that settles however often it is swept, it warns that life is limited, so one must not neglect one's practice.
The attribution, "Poem from a Dream," marks it as a poem revealed in a dream and does not point to any particular author.
First line, "asa goto ni," means "every morning."
Second line, "harau chiri dani," means "even the dust one sweeps," with "dani" a particle that names a lesser thing to imply the greater, laying the passions over the dust.
Third line, "aru mono o," means "comes back, and yet," with "mono o" concessive.
Fourth line, "ima ikuyo tote," means "thinking how many lives remain," speaking of life's limit.
Final line, "tayumu naruran," means "do you grow lax," with "naru" assertive and "ran" the auxiliary of present conjecture.
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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