Teru tsuki no kokoro no mizu ni suminureba yagate kono mi ni hikari o zo sasu - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

照る月の心の水に澄みぬれば
やがてこの身に光をぞさす

Roma-ji: Teru tsuki no kokoro no mizu ni suminureba yagate kono mi ni hikari o zo sasu
English Translation: When the shining moon
in the water of the heart
dwells clear and still,
straight away upon this body
its light comes streaming down
Meaning: When the shining moon is mirrored clear in the water of the heart, its light falls at once upon this very body.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1218

Headnote: "On the meaning of becoming a buddha in this very body"
This poem was composed on the teaching of becoming a buddha in this very body. When the shining moon dwells clear in the water of the heart, its light falls at once on this body, he says. The moon stands for the Buddha or enlightenment, and just as clear water mirrors the moon, so when the heart is made pure the Buddha's light dwells straightway in this body, expressing the teaching through the figure of moon and water.
The author, "Former Consultant Norinaga," is Fujiwara no Norinaga. A son of the Major Counselor Fujiwara no Tadanori, he rose to consultant. He served Retired Emperor Sutoku as a close attendant and was exiled for his part in the Hōgen Disturbance. He was also known as a master calligrapher.
The conceit of the heart or body as water mirroring the moon appears again at 1224 and 1240 in this book, and in 1250 the heart is likened to a mirror that reflects both color and form.

First line, "teru tsuki no": "the shining moon," standing for the Buddha or enlightenment.
Second line, "kokoro no mizu ni": the heart likened to water, a heart made clear. Like "mizu ni yadoru" in the fourth line of 1224 in this book, it speaks of heart and body through water that mirrors the moon.
Third line, "suminureba": "nure" is the perfective form of the perfective "nu," "since it has become clear."
Fourth line, "yagate kono mi ni": "yagate" means just as it is, at once, expressing the teaching of becoming a buddha in this very body. It is the same word as in "yagate zo utsuru" in the fourth line of 1250 in this book.
Fifth line, "hikari o zo sasu": "zo," an emphatic binding particle, closes with the attributive "sasu."
Author: Fujiwara no Norinaga
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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