谷水を結べば映る影のみや
千歳を送る友となりけん
千歳を送る友となりけん
- Roma-ji
-
Tanimizu o musubeba utsuru kage nomi ya chitose o okuru tomo to nariken
- English Translation
-
Scooping valley water,
only the reflection there,
was it that alone
that became his companion
through a thousand passing years?
- Meaning
- Was it only the reflection that appeared as he scooped up the valley water that kept him company through a thousand years?
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1242
Headnote: "Composed on the Devadatta chapter"
This poem was composed on the Devadatta chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Drawing on the tale of the Buddha in a former life serving a hermit for a thousand years, drawing water and gathering firewood, he says: was it only the reflection seen when scooping valley water that became his companion through a thousand years? He imagines the loneliness of long years of practice spent drawing water alone in the mountains, with only his own reflection in the water for a friend.
The author, "Kenshō Hōshi," was the adopted son of Fujiwara no Akisuke, master of the western capital office. He was known as a scholar of poetry of the Rokujō house.
It is the fourth poem of the series on the chapters of the Lotus Sutra in order. 1213 in this book also treats the Devadatta chapter; of the thousand years of drawing water, that poem portrays selfless service and this one years of solitude.
First line, "tanimizu o": "the water flowing in the valley," the water drawn in service of the hermit.
Second line, "musubeba utsuru": "musubu" means to scoop up water in the hands, and like "musubishi mizu mo" in the second line of 1213 in this book, it draws on the water-drawing tale of the Devadatta chapter.
Third line, "kage nomi ya": "kage" is his own reflection in the water, and "ya," an interrogative binding particle, closes with "ken" in the fifth line.
Fourth line, "chitose o okuru": "passing a thousand years," answering "chitose made" in the first line of 1213 in this book.
Fifth line, "tomo to nariken": "ken," the attributive of the conjectural past "kemu," closes the binding.
- Author
- Kenshō
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Musashino no Horikane no i mo aru mono o ureshiku mizu no chikazukinikeru
- Next Poem
-
Kuchihatete ayauku mieshi Obatada no Itada no hashi mo ima watasu nari