長き世の苦しきことを思へかし
何嘆くらむ仮の宿りに
何嘆くらむ仮の宿りに
- Roma-ji
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Nagaki yo no kurushiki koto o omoe kashi nani nagekuramu kari no yadori ni
- English Translation
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Think instead upon
the sufferings that await
in the long world beyond —
why do you lament so much
in this lodging for a while
- Meaning
- Think rather of the sufferings of the long world to come; why grieve so over this passing lodging?
- Commentary
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Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 409
Rather than grieving over this world, a mere passing lodging, one should think of the sufferings of the long world after death, the poet admonishes. Grounded in the Buddhist view of this world as a temporary lodging, the poem urges seeking salvation in the life to come.
Where the opening poem, 348, and poem 354 sang of dwelling places, here this world itself is a temporary lodging.
The first line, "nagaki yo no," refers to the long world after death.
The second line, "kurushiki koto o," refers to the sufferings of the next life.
The third line, "omoe kashi," adds the emphatic "kashi" to the imperative: think on it, with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "nani nagekuramu," uses the conjectural "ramu": why do you grieve?
The final line, "kari no yadori ni," refers to this world as a temporary lodging, giving by inversion what is grieved over.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Kakute nomi yo ni ariake no tsuki naraba kumo kakushite yo amakudaru kami
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Omoedomo imu tote iwanu koto nareba sonata ni mukite ne o nomi zo naku