Satori hiroki kono nori o mazu tokiokite futatsu nashi to wa iikiwamekeru

悟り広きこの法をまづ説き置きて
二つなしとは言ひ極めける

Roma-ji: Satori hiroki kono nori o mazu tokiokite futatsu nashi to wa iikiwamekeru
English Translation: This Law whose wisdom
opens wide, first of all things
he preached and set down,
and that there are not two paths—
this he declared at the last.
Meaning: First he expounded this teaching of vast enlightenment, and then declared to the utmost that there are not two paths.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1536

Headnote: "Ten Buddhist Poems: Three on the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings"
Among the ten Buddhist poems, the first of three on the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings. Having first preached this teaching of vast enlightenment, the Buddha declared to the utmost that the true path is not two.
The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, preached before the Lotus Sutra, is regarded as its opening sutra. The Lotus teaches that the Buddha's teachings return to a single path and that there are not two. The poem seems to sing of the order of the Buddha's preaching, which first set forth this sutra and then reached the ultimate teaching in the Lotus.

First line, “satori hiroki”: of vast enlightenment; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “kono nori o mazu”: nori is the teaching, "this teaching first."
Third line, “tokiokite”: having expounded it.
Fourth line, “futatsu nashi to wa”: that there are not two paths, pointing to the Lotus Sutra's teaching.
Fifth line, “iikiwamekeru”: keru in attributive form closes in exclamation, "he declared it to the utmost."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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