Iro mo ka mo munashi to tokeru nori naredo inoru shirushi wa ari to koso kike - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

色も香も空しと説ける法なれど
祈るしるしはありとこそ聞け

Roma-ji: Iro mo ka mo munashi to tokeru nori naredo inoru shirushi wa ari to koso kike
English Translation: Color and fragrance
are empty, so it teaches,
the Law of Buddha,
and yet the power of prayer
is real, so I have heard
Meaning: Though the Buddha's Law teaches that color and fragrance are empty, I have heard that prayer does bring its blessings.
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 626

Though the Buddha's Law teaches that color and fragrance alike are empty, the poet has heard that prayer does bear fruit. Catching the seeming contradiction between a teaching that all things are empty of substance and the blessings that answer prayer, he expresses his reliance on the power of the Law all the same.
Iro, color, in Buddhism means all things that have form, and the poem draws on the Heart Sutra's teaching that form is emptiness. Following the rain prayer of the preceding poem, 625, a poem on the efficacy of prayer is placed here.
The author, Tadamichi, is Fujiwara no Tadamichi. A son of the Regent Fujiwara no Tadazane, he became Regent, Chancellor and Grand Minister and was known as the Hosshōji Lay Priest. One of his poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, 'iro mo ka mo', means color and fragrance, overlaying the color and scent of flowers with the Buddhist sense of all things with form.
Second line, 'munashi to tokeru', means which teaches are empty, using the attributive of the continuative ri. It draws on the Heart Sutra's form is emptiness.
Third line, 'nori naredo', means though it is the Law, the particle do expressing contrast.
Fourth line, 'inoru shirushi wa', means the efficacy of prayer. It echoes the rain prayer of the preceding poem, 625.
Final line, 'ari to koso kike', means so I have heard, the particle koso answered by the realis kike.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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