Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.95 前大僧正慈円「おほけなく 憂き世の民に おほふかな わが立つ杣に 墨染の袖」

おほけなく 憂き世の民に おほふかな わが立つ杣に 墨染の袖

前大僧正慈円

it is too much to claim — still I spread this black sleeve

it is too much to claim — still I spread this black sleeve

キーワードKeywords

Black RobeSheltering the PeoplePresumptionMountain TempleVocation
★★ Miscellaneous

前大僧正慈円Jien — No. 95 僧・法師Monk

A high priest who headed the Tendai school four times; brother of Kujō Kanezane and author of the history Gukanshō.

おほけなく うきよのたみに おほふかな わがたつそまに すみぞめのそで

Ōkenaku Ukiyo no tami ni Ōu kana Waga tatsu soma ni Sumizome no sode

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

A monk on a logging mountain, spreading the sleeves of his black robe as if a piece of cloth could be held over an entire suffering population. He says himself that it is presumptuous. He does it anyway.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Shibumi (Understated Vocation)

A vast intention is expressed as one small physical gesture, prefaced by an admission of inadequacy. Scale down the action and admit the gap; the ambition reads as sincere.