The Bekkaku Temple Songs
- koeiervin7
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
In addition to the Eighty-eight Temples of the Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage, there are a further twenty "Bekkaku" Temples associated with the life and miracles of Kobo Daishi Kukai. Like the Henro temples, the Bekkaku also feature Goeika, temple songs which poetically combine the place and scenery of temples with the experience of pilgrims and the teachings of Buddhism. Below you can find the Japanese text of these songs along with my translations of them into English.
1
さしもぐさ たのむちかひは 大山の 松にも法の 花やさくらむ
Artemisia
Sweet perfume of sacred vows
On the Great Mountain
Flowering among the pines
The blossoms of the Dharma
2
まいるなら 三世の悪行 消へはてる 南無や薬師の 瑠璃の光に
A pious visit means
Misdeeds throughout all of time
Are all wiped away
In the lapis radiance
Of the Medicine Master.
3
天とふや 鶴の奥山 おくたえて 願ふ功力に 法ぞ通わん
Venturing within
The heaven-piercing mountain
Where the cranes alight,
By his aspiration's power
The Dharma passes onward.
4
かげだにも 我名を知れよ 一つ松 古今来世を すくひ導く
You must know my name
Even when the shadows fall.
A solitary pine
Pointing out the saving way
Now and in the afterlife.
5
みな人の 善を須崎の高野寺 波の音さえ 法の声かな
The good all must do
At the hilltop temple on
The Susaki coast;
Even the sound of the waves
Preaches the Buddhadharma.
6
みめぐみの 杖をたよりに 有為の山 越えてくもらぬ 月を見るかな
Leaning on my staff,
Trusty source of blessings,
Crossing the mountain
Of conditioned things, I see
The moon in a cloudless sky.
7
くもりなき 二名の島の 金山に みのりの光 かがやくを見よ
In a cloudless sky
Above the Golden Mountain
On Two-Name Island
See how the Dharma's radiance
Shines across the blue heavens.
8
ゆきなやむ 浮き世の人を 渡さずば 一夜も十夜の 橋と思ほゆ
Anxiously trudging;
If we, lost in this floating world,
Did not have his help,
One dark night would feel like ten
As his did beneath the bridge.
9
われ人を すくわんための 先だつに みちびきたまう 衛門三郎
For our benefit
He stands ahead on the path
Reaching out his hand
Guiding us, the first pilgrim,
Emon Saburo
10
みほとけの のりのみやまの のりのみず ながれもきよく みゆるぎのはし
The Buddha's Teachings,
A stream of sacred water
On Dharma Mountain
Flowing brightly down its slopes
Under the Yurugi Bridge.
11
一夜にて 願いを立つる みこころは 幾代かはらぬ 楠のみどりば
In a single night
Setting forth his saving vow;
Now his sacred mind
Lives on for millennia
Like the verdant camphor leaves.
12
千代かけて 誓いの松の ほとりこそ なほありがたき 法の道かな
Across centuries
Merciful vows taking root
Like a cliffside pine.
How grateful I am to walk
The long road of the Dharma.
13
極楽は 他にはあらぬ この寺に 御法の声を きくぞうれしき
Awakening's bliss
Is nowhere if not right here
Within this temple.
How happy I am to hear
Voices preach the Sacred Law.
14
立ち寄りて 椿の寺に やすみつつ 祈りをかけて 弥陀をたのめよ
Stopping for a rest
At the sacred temple where
Camelias bloom
Pour out prayers like water drops,
Rely on Amitabha.
15
いその神 ふりにし世より 今もなほ 箸運ぶてふ ことの尊き
Great God of the Coast
Shaking off the mundane world
Now just as before
Fulfilling his precious vow
upholding all who use chopsticks
16
尊くも 火伏をちかふ 地蔵尊 はぎの御山に 世を救ふらむ
Vowing to subdue
All kinds of conflagration
Earth-Store the Revered,
Reaching out to save the world
From Mt. Hagi's sacred peak.
17
ちまちだに いまもそそぎて のりのしの 恵みあふるる 満濃の大池
Cleansing even now
The fields and scattered hamlets
The Dharma Master's
Great reservoir in Manno
Overflowing with blessings.
18
せとのきし まなこやひらく かいがんじ よろこびみちぬ 身も心にも
On the Seto Coast
At the temple where my eyes
Open to the Way
The path stretching before me
Fills body and mind with joy.
19
南無大悲 延命地蔵 大菩薩 みちびきたまへ この世のちの世
Homage to Earth-Store
Bodhisattva granting life
In your great mercy,
I beg of you to guide my steps
In this life and the next one.
20
霊峰の 岩間にひらく 法の道 厄をながして 衆生ぞすくわる
Buddha's Sacred Way
Weaving among the boulders
On the holy peak
Flushing out calamity
And saving living beings.
All photos on this article were taken by Don Weiss, legendary pilgrim and author of Echoes of Incense, one of the first English accounts of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Used with permission.
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