法のため担ふ薪にことよせて
やがて憂き世をこりぞはてぬる
やがて憂き世をこりぞはてぬる
- Roma-ji
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Nori no tame ninau takigi ni kotoyosete yagate ukiyo o kori zo hatenuru
- English Translation
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For the sake of the Law
the firewood that I carry,
making that my cause,
I have of this world of grief
cut and wearied myself through
- Meaning
- Using the firewood I carry for the sake of the Law as my pretext, I have grown thoroughly weary of this sorrowful world.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 635
Taking as pretext the firewood carried on one's back for the sake of the Law, the poet has grown wholly weary of this sorrowful world. Drawing on the Lotus Sutra's Devadatta chapter, which tells how in a former life the Buddha served a hermit, gathering firewood and drawing water, and so obtained the Lotus Sutra, the poem joins koru, to cut wood, with koru, to grow weary, expressing a heart that has entered the Buddhist path and turned from the world.
The same story from the Devadatta chapter is sung in a poem in the Shūishū attributed to the Archbishop Gyōki, saying that he obtained the Lotus Sutra by cutting firewood, picking greens, drawing water and serving. The next poem, 636, also sings of the drawing of water from the same story.
First line, 'nori no tame', means for the sake of the Law.
Second line, 'ninau takigi ni', means the firewood I carry, drawing on the story of gathering firewood in the Devadatta chapter.
Third line, 'kotoyosete', means taking it as a pretext.
Fourth line, 'yagate ukiyo o', means just so, this sorrowful world, the adverb yagate meaning straight away, just as it is.
Final line, 'kori zo hatenuru', means I have grown wholly weary, joining koru, to cut wood, with koru, to grow weary. The particle zo is answered by the attributive of the perfective nu.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Fukikaesu washi no yamakaze nakariseba koromo no ura no tama o mimashi ya
- Next Poem
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Kyō zo shiru washi no takane ni teru tsuki o tanigawa kumishi hito no kage to wa