GOSHO 上野尼御前御返事 Wu-lung and I-lung 11

少し苦(くるし)みや(止)みぬる処に、我合掌(がっしょう)して仏に問い奉(たてまつ)りて何(いか)なる仏ぞと申せば、仏答えて我は是れ汝が子息遺(い)竜(りょう)が只今(ただいま)書くところの法華経の題目、六十四字の内の妙の一字なりと言(のたも)ふ。

　As my agony subsided a little, I joined my palms together in prayer and asked him what kind of Buddha he was. The Buddha replied, ‘I am the character myō, one of the sixty-four characters that compose the titles [of the eight volumes] of the Lotus Sutra, which your son, I-lung, is now writing.’

　With this, my anguish lessened somewhat, so I reverently placed my palms togetherand asked the Buddha who he was, to which the Buddha replied, ‘I am the character Myo, one of the sixty-four characters which make up the titles of the Lotus Sutra that your son Yi-long is currently transcribing.’

八巻の題目は八八六十四の仏、六十四の満月と成り給へば、無間(むkeん)地獄の大闇即大明となりし上、

As eight characters form the title of each of the eight volumes, a total of sixty-four Buddhas appeared and shone like sixty-four full moons, and the utter darkness of the hell of incessant suffering was instantly transformed into a dazzling brilliance.

Since the title of each of the eight volumes of the sutra are composed of eight characters, a total of sixty-four Buddhas appeared becoming sixty-four full moons whose brilliance instantly bathed the Hell of Incessant Suffering with an all-illuminating light.

無間地獄は当(とう)位(い)即妙(そくみょう)・不改本(ふかいほん)位(い)と申して常寂光(じょうじゃっこう)の都と成りぬ。

Moreover, in accordance with the principle that any place, without changing its characteristics, is a Buddha land, the hell of incessant suffering immediately became the Capital of Eternally Tranquil Light.

And in accordance with the principle that all people and the lands in which they live are the life of Buddha, the Hell of Incessant Suffering was revealed to be the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light without changing its original nature.”

我及び罪人とは皆蓮(はちす)の上(うえ)の仏と成りて只今都率(とそつ)の内院へ上り参り候が、先(ま)ず汝に告ぐるなりと云云。

I and all theother inmates became Buddhas seated on lotus blossoms, and we are now ascendingt o the inner court of the Tushita heaven. This I am reporting to you before anyone else.”

“I, along with all of the other denizens of Hell, become Buddha seated upon a lotus blossom, and was allowed to ascend to the Inner Court of the Tushita Heaven. I wanted to tell you this before all others.”


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　つづく
解　説　　目次　Index