愚かなる心にのみや任すべき
師となることもあるなるものを
師となることもあるなるものを
- Roma-ji
-
Oroka naru kokoro ni nomi ya makasu beki shi to naru koto mo aru naru mono o
- English Translation
-
To a foolish heart,
should one give oneself up wholly,
letting it hold sway?
They say one may also become
the master of one's heart.
- Meaning
- Should one leave everything to a foolish heart alone? I hear one may also become the master of one's heart.
- Commentary
-
Miscellaneous Poems 906
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On what I was thinking in my heart"
This is the fourth of the five. The sutras teach that one should become the master of one's mind and not make the mind one's master. Should one leave everything to a foolish heart alone, when I hear one may become its master? the poet asks, resolving not to be swayed by the heart but to guide it.
First line, “oroka naru”: foolish.
Second line, “kokoro ni nomi ya”: nomi limits; ya is answered by beki in the third line.
Third line, “makasu beki”: should one leave all to it? The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “shi to naru koto mo”: becoming master of the heart, after the sutra's teaching.
Fifth line, “aru naru mono o”: naru marks hearsay; though I hear it may be so.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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No ni tateru eda naki ki ni mo otorikeri nochi no yo shiranu hito no kokoro wa