Amidabu to tonauru koe o kaji nite ya kurushiki umi o kogihanaruramu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

阿弥陀仏と唱ふる声を楫にてや
苦しき海を漕ぎ離るらむ

Roma-ji: Amidabu to tonauru koe o kaji nite ya kurushiki umi o kogihanaruramu
English Translation: With the voice that calls
the name of Amida Buddha
used as an oar, is it
that across the sea of pain
one rows away from its shores
Meaning: Is it by using the voice that chants the name of Amida Buddha as an oar that one rows away from the sea of suffering?
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 647

Is it with the voice that chants Amida Buddha's name as an oar that one rows away from the sea of this suffering world? Likening this world full of delusion and pain to the sea, the poem overlays the crossing to the Pure Land through the nembutsu with the scene of rowing a boat.
The first and second lines are nearly the same as those of 630 in this book, amidabu to tonauru koe. Where 630 wakes from a dream at the voice of the nembutsu and sees the moon flowing west, this poem rows away from the sea of suffering with that voice as its oar. Poem 639 in this book likewise likens the Law to a boat that ferries people across.
The author, Toshiyori, is Minamoto no Toshiyori, a son of the Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu, who became Head of the Carpentry Office. He was the compiler of this anthology, and his personal collection is the Sanboku Kika Shū. One of his poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, 'amidabu to', means Amida Buddha, the name chanted in the nembutsu. It is the same as the first line of 630 in this book.
Second line, 'tonauru koe o', means the chanting voice. It echoes tonauru koe ni in the second line of 630 in this book.
Third line, 'kaji nite ya', means as an oar, the particle ya of question answered by ramu in the final line.
Fourth line, 'kurushiki umi o', means the sea of suffering, likening this painful world to the sea.
Final line, 'kogihanaruramu', means does one row away, closing with the present conjectural ramu. Oar, sea and rowing are associated words.
Author: Minamoto no Toshiyori
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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