Gosho 中興入道御消息 Letter to the Lay Priest Nakaoki

去(い)ぬる幼(おさな)子(ご)のむす(娘)め御前(ごぜん)の十三年に丈六(じょうろく)のそとば(卒塔婆)をたてて其の面(おもて)に南無妙法蓮華経の七字を顕(あらわ)して・をはしませば、

Moreover, on the thirteenth anniversary of the death of your infant daughter, you erected a sixteen-foot wooden grave tablet with the seven characters Nam-myoho-renge-kyo inscribed on it.

On the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the death of your young daughter, you erected a stupa (toba) with an inscription of the seven characters of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo on its face.

北風吹けば南海のい(魚)ろく(族)づ其(そ)の風にあたりて大海の苦をはな(離)れ・

When the north wind blows, it is said, fish in the southern sea who are touched by it will be released from their sufferings;

When the wind blows from the north, the wind [that touches the Daimoku on the stupa] reaches the great ocean in the south and enables the fish there to escape the sufferings of the world of animality.

東風(こち)きたれば西山の鳥(ちょう)鹿(ろく)・其の風を身にふ(触)れて畜生(ちくしょう)道(どう)をまぬかれて都率(とそつ)の内院に生れん、

and when the wind comes from the east, birds and deer in the western mountains who come in contact with it will escape from the realm of animals and be born in the inner court of the Tushita heaven.

When the wind blows from the east, the wind [that touches the Daimoku on the stupa] reaches the mountains in the west where birds and deer live. They too, will be liberated from the life of animality, and will be reborn in the inner court of Tushita Heaven, where bodhisattvas dwell.

況(いわん)や・かのそとば(卒塔婆)に随喜(ずいき)をなし手をふ(触)れ眼に見まいらせ候人類(じんるい)をや。

How much greater still will be the blessings of those human beings who rejoice at this tablet, touch it with their hands, or gaze upon it with their eyes!

Needless to say, one who rejoices over the stupa, see it, or touches it [will receive immeasurable benefits].


　　　　つづく　To be continued

本文　Original text 目次 Index