Chikai arite negawan kuni e yukubeku wa nishi no kado yori satori hirakan

誓ひありて願はん国へ行くべくは
西の門より悟り開かん

Roma-ji: Chikai arite negawan kuni e yukubeku wa nishi no kado yori satori hirakan
English Translation: By the vow once made,
if I may go to the land
that I long to reach,
then from the gate of the west
I shall open to awakening.
Meaning: If by the Buddha's vow I may go to the land I long for, I will open the way to awakening through the western gate.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1540

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Buddhist Poems: Three on the Thousand-Armed Kannon Sutra"
The second of the three poems on the Thousand-Armed Kannon Sutra. If by Kannon's vow he may be born in the land he longs for, he will open awakening from the western gate leading to the Pure Land.
Relying on the Buddha's vow to bring beings to birth in the land they desire, it prays for rebirth in the Western Pure Land. Kado, gate, and hiraku, to open, are used as associated words, laying the opening of awakening over the opening of a gate.

First line, “chikai arite”: there being the Buddha's vow; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “negawan kuni e”: n is euphemistic, "to the land I long for."
Third line, “yukubeku wa”: if I may go.
Fourth line, “nishi no kado yori”: from the western gate leading to the Pure Land.
Fifth line, “satori hirakan”: n expresses intention, "I will open awakening"; hiraku is associated with the gate in the fourth line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Hana made wa mi ni nizarubeshi kuchihatete eda mo naki ki no ne o na karashi so
Next Poem: Samazama ni tanagokoro naru chikai o ba namu no kotoba ni fusanetaru kana