Gokuraku wa harukeki hodo to kikishikado tsutomete itaru tokoro narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

極楽ははるけきほどと聞きしかど
つとめて至る所なりけり

Roma-ji: Gokuraku wa harukeki hodo to kikishikado tsutomete itaru tokoro narikeri
English Translation: Paradise, they said,
lay so very far away,
so I heard it told,
yet by striving one arrives
there by morning, I now find.
Meaning: I had heard that paradise lies far, far away, yet it is a place one reaches by striving on the path, even by early morning.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1343

Headnote: "Composed in longing for paradise"
The poet says he had heard that paradise lies far away, yet it is a place one reaches by striving. The headnote shows it was composed in longing for rebirth in paradise. Paradise is taught to lie beyond a hundred thousand million Buddha-lands, but pivoting "tsutomete," by striving, on "tsutomete," early morning, he sings of hope for rebirth: strive on the Buddhist path and one may arrive by the morning after a single night.
The author, Priest Senkei, was a priest of whom little is known.

First line, "gokuraku wa," means "paradise," the Pure Land of Amida Buddha.
Second line, "harukeki hodo to," means "to be far away," as it is taught to lie beyond a hundred thousand million Buddha-lands.
Third line, "kikishikado," means "though I had heard," with "shika" the perfective form of the past auxiliary "ki" and "do" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "tsutomete itaru," is a pivot word: "tsutomete" means "by striving" on the path and "early in the morning."
Final line, "tokoro narikeri," means "is a place, I find," with "keri" a sigh of realization, setting the ease of arriving against "harukeki" in the second line.
Author: The Monk Senkei
Source: Shui Wakashu
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