[Kannon Reigenki Saigoku Pilgrimage] No. 3 Kokawa-dera Temple / Shibukawa Sadayu
“Kannon Reigenki Saigoku Pilgrimage No. 3 Kokawa-dera Temple, Shibukawa Sadayu”
|Kannon Reigenki| |Saigoku| |Pilgrimage| |No.| |Three| |Kokawa-dera Temple|
The blessings of father and mother are deep, |Kokawa-dera Temple|
|The Buddha's| |vow| is truly marvelous
|Shibukawa| |Sadayu|
|Sadayu| was a |person| from |Kawachi|, and his |only| |child| was bedridden with a |serious illness|. Although he |tried| |every| |medical| |remedy|, there was no |effect|. His |parents| could not bear the sorrow and |devoutly| |believed| in the |Great Compassion| |Abhaya-dada (giving no fear)|. Suddenly, a |child| of fourteen or fifteen |came| and |asked| about the |child's| |illness|. When he |asked| for |incantation (kaji)|, the |child| immediately |taught| him the |Thousand-Hand Dharani|. Because the |pain| was suddenly |relieved|, the |father| |rejoiced| and |offered| |treasures| to the |child|, but the |child| would not |accept| them at all.
* "|Abhaya-dada|" refers to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.
* "|Futo|" means unexpectedly or suddenly.
* "|Kaji|" means to receive the protection of gods and Buddhas to ward off disaster.
* "|Thousand-Hand Dharani|" is a sutra that explains the virtues of the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
|Simply| |taking| the |chopstick wrapper| of the |patient|, the child said, "|I| am a |person| from |Kishū| |Kokawa-dera Temple|," and |left|. |After that|, the child |fully recovered|, so the |father and child| |went| to |that| |place| and |searched| in various ways, but could not |find| him. They |rested| in a |grass hut| where there were no |people|, and while |thinking| |all night long|, a |light| |shone| in the |Buddha room| |mysteriously|. |Surprised|, they |approached| and |looked|, and the |child's| |chopstick case| was |hanging| on the |Thousand-Hand| |Buddha's| |hand|. |Thinking| that the |previous| |child| must have |been| |this| |Buddha|, they |deeply| |revered| it. |Pilgrimages| |spread| in all |directions|, and |eventually|, a |woman| in |Ito District| became a |great believer|, and from the time she made her |residence| a |temple|, the |miraculous efficacy| became |ever| more |evident|.
* "|Honpuku|" means full recovery from an illness.
* Reference: "Saigoku, Chichibu, Bando 100 Kannon Miraculous Efficacy Pilgrimage Record", "Saigoku 33 Kannon Miraculous Efficacy Record Illustrated", "Saigoku 33 Kannon Miraculous Efficacy Record Illustrated" (National Diet Library Digital Collections)
Author's note: ● indicates characters that could not be deciphered.
I will update this as appropriate when I discover newly deciphered characters or notice typos/misreadings. For details, please read "Self-Introduction / Disclaimer." 📖