迦毘羅衛に共に契りしかひありて
文殊の御顔相見つるかな
文殊の御顔相見つるかな
- Roma-ji
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Kabirae ni tomo ni chigirishi kai arite Monju no mikao aimitsuru kana
- English Translation
-
In Kapilavastu
we made a vow together,
and not in vain, for
the face of Manjushri
I have come to see at last.
- Meaning
- The vow we made together in Kapilavastu has borne fruit, and I have come to look upon the face of Manjushri.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Lament Poems 1349
Headnote: "Reply"
The poet says that, the vow made together at Kapilavastu having borne fruit, he has looked upon Manjushri's face. It is Bodhi's reply to Gyōki's preceding poem, 1348. Based on the tradition that Gyōki was an incarnation of the bodhisattva Manjushri, he answers that through the bond of their vow at Kapilavastu, where the Buddha was born, he has now met Gyōki, Manjushri's incarnation. "Kai" of "Kabirae" echoes "kai," fruit or worth.
The author, written as "Brahmin Archbishop," is Bodhisena. Of Brahmin birth in southern India, he came to Japan in Tenpyō 8 (736), led the eye-opening ceremony of the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji, and became archbishop.
First line, "Kabirae ni," means "in Kapilavastu," the land where the Buddha was born. Against "Ryōzen no" in the first line of the preceding poem, 1348, it names another place tied to the Buddha.
Second line, "tomo ni chigirishi," means "where we made a vow together," taking up "chigiriteshi" in the third line of the preceding poem, 1348.
Third line, "kai arite," means "not in vain," repeating the sound "kai" of "Kabirae" in the first line.
Fourth line, "Monju no mikao," means "the face of Manjushri," based on the tradition that Gyōki was an incarnation of Manjushri.
Final line, "aimitsuru kana," means "I have met," answering with the same line as the final line of the preceding poem, 1348.
- Author
- Bodhisena
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ryōzen no Shaka no mimae ni chigiriteshi shinnyo kuchisezu aimitsuru kana
- Next Poem
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Shinateru ya Kataokayama ni ii ni uete fuseru tabibito aware oya nashi