Ofudesaki 04:074–5
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Contents
Content
| About the Service: first the Teodori, then the Kagura. | Tsutome demo hajime Teodori mata Kagura | つとめても 初てをどり またかぐら |
| Thus, I have opened just a narrow path. | choto no hoso michi tsukete are domo | 一寸のほそみち つけてあれども |
| But weeds have gradually grown thick and the path is obscure. | dandan to kusa ga shikorite michi shirezu | だん／＼と くさがしこりて みちしれす |
| Quickly, the preparations to open the main path! | hayaku honmichi tsukeru moyō o | はやくほんみち つけるもよふを |
Alternate English translations
Third Edition
Concerning the Service, I have taught the Teodori at first and then the Kagura. Thus I have already opened a narrow path.
But weeds have gradually grown thick and the path is obscure. So, quickly begin arrangements for opening the main road!
Inoue/Eynon
I initiated the Service, first the Teodori and then the Kagura, thereby opening a little narrow path.
But, gradually, the path disappeared, choked with weeds. Quickly prepare to open this true path.
Commentary
Ofudesaki chushaku
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This section contains translated material that has not yet been subjected to peer-review to check for accuracy and clarity. While the translator(s) have given their best effort to render Japanese text into English, we would like readers to keep in mind that the present translation may require further revising and refining. Any input to improve the present translation is greatly welcomed. Translator(s): Roy Forbes |
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4:74, 75 *Note: While Oyagami was hoping to initiate the Joyous Service by gradually teaching followers the hand movements of the Teodori and Kagura Service, due to the persecution and interference by the authorities, followers, with their tendency toward human thinking, were anxious and withdrawn, neglecting to carry our their faith, creating a situation not unlike how weeds and grass become overgrown, blocking the way along a narrow path. Because this would only delay the progress of the path, these verses are telling followers to quickly make get ready to embark on the true path. |
『おふでさき註釈』、p. 63–4 七四、七五、註 親神様は、初めてはてをどり又かぐらづとめ、とだんだんに手をつけて、よふきづとめに掛かる事を望んでおられたが、当時官憲の圧迫干渉により、又怠り勝ちな人間心から、信仰する人々の中には、不安の年を起こして引込み思案をし、又は、懈怠して、あたかも細道の中に雑草がむらがって通路をふさぐような有様となっていた。これでは、道遅れるばかりであるから、早く本当の道に出る容易をでよ、と、仰せられたのである。 |
Commentary by Yoshitaro Ueda (2008)
From Michi no dai: Foundation of the Path 34:54–5
IV:74
The Service is indispensable for allowing this path to become the broad path that leads to the Joyous Life. The verse says that God has instructed people in the Service by first teaching the Teodori, or the Dance with Hand Movements, followed by the Kagura Service, thus beginning to lay the path, however narrow it may still be.
Regarding the songs that accompany the Dance with Hand Movements, it was between January and August 1867 that Oyasama taught the Twelve Songs. Then over the next three full years, She devoted Her time to adapting melodies and dance movements to the songs and teaching them. Further, in 1870, She added the Eight Verses of the Yorozuyo to the beginning of the Twelve Songs.
As for the songs for the Kagura Service–which takes place with the Kanrodai as center with its ten performers wearing the kagura masks–the first section was taught in the autumn of 1866 and was originally worded: “Ashiki harai, tasuke-tamae, / Tenri-O-no-Mikoto” [Sweep away evils and save us, / Tenri-O-no-Mikoto]. In 1870, Oyasama taught the second section, namely, the song that begins with “Choto hanashi” [Just a word] and its hand movements. Later, in 1875 She taught the third section in its original form–”Ashiki harai, tasuke tamae, / Ichiretsu sumasu Kanrodai” [Sweep away evils and save us, / The Kanrodai which purifies all humankind equally]–as well as its hand movements. Subsequently, in 1882 Oyasama altered the wording of some phrases to their present form.
Verse 74 was written before the Service was first performed with the kagura masks; it must be said that the Service at the time was, therefore, still far from being completed in its entirety. This is what this verse metaphorically refers to when it speaks of “just a narrow path.” Nonetheless, it is a path guaranteed to lead to the broad path eventually.
IV:75
This “narrow path,” which Oyasama went to great lengths to open, will be overgrown with weeds, as it were, and become obscure if it is not used. The verse urges people to learn and master the Service, which is the fundamental component of the path of single-hearted salvation, and thereby make preparations to establish the reliable, error-free “main path.” It seems probable that this verse reflects Oyasama’s concern that people are not making sufficient efforts to learn or practice the Service.
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