💟 Taiheiki Volume 21, Part 4: 'The Passing of the Former Emperor'

The Last Will and Testament of Emperor Go-Daigo(Converted to modern kana usage.)
The Emperor, breathing his last with difficulty, said: 'Wife, children, treasures, and the throne—none of these follow one at the moment of death. This is the golden teaching of the Tathagata, and as it has been in my heart throughout my life, I do not care at all for the way Duke Mu of Qin buried his three loyal retainers with him, or how the First Emperor took his treasures to the grave. The only lingering attachment I have, which may follow me through life after life, is the desire to destroy the enemies of the Imperial Court and bring peace to the four seas. After I pass away, let the Seventh Prince ascend to the throne. Let wise men and loyal subjects plan the affairs of state, reward the loyal service of Yoshisada and Yoshisuke, and if their descendants do not act against righteousness, they shall serve as the arms and legs of the throne to pacify the realm. Because I think of this, even if my bones are buried in the moss of the Southern Mountains, my soul will always look toward the sky of the Northern Palace. If you disobey this command and treat righteousness lightly, you are neither a successor to the throne nor a loyal subject.' Having left these detailed imperial words, he held the fifth scroll of the Lotus Sutra in his left hand, rested his right hand on his sword, and at the hour of the Ox on the sixteenth day of the eighth month, he finally passed away. (From 'Taiheiki', The Passing of the Former Emperor)

1. Colloquial translation (Part: Emperor Go-Daigo's last will)

'Wife, children, treasures, and the throne—none of these follow one at the moment of death. This is the golden teaching of the Tathagata, and as it has been in my heart throughout my life, I do not care at all for the way Duke Mu of Qin buried his three loyal retainers with him, or how the First Emperor took his treasures to the grave. The only lingering attachment I have, which may follow me through life after life, is the desire to destroy the enemies of the Imperial Court and bring peace to the four seas. After I pass away, let the Seventh Prince ascend to the throne. Let wise men and loyal subjects plan the affairs of state,reward the loyal service of Yoshisada and Yoshisuke, and if their descendants do not act against righteousness, they shall serve as the arms and legs of the throne to pacify the realm.Because I think of this, even if my bones are buried in the moss of the Southern Mountains, my soul will always look toward the sky of the Northern Palace. If you disobey this command and treat righteousness lightly, you are neither a successor to the throne nor a loyal subject.'

2. Original text (Full)

From the ninth day of the eighth month of the third year of the En-gen era of the Southern Court, the Emperor at Yoshino fell ill, and his condition gradually worsened. The vows of the Healing Buddha were of no avail in prayer, and the miraculous medicines of Jivaka and Bian Que were ineffective when administered. His jade body faded day by day, and as it appeared the time of his passing was not far off, the Great Pagoda Priest Chūun approached his pillow, wiped away his tears, and said: 'Waiting for the spring when the flowers of Mt. Kamiji bloom twice, if there is a time when the waters of Kiyomizu will finally clear, I had thought that the Buddhas, gods, and the Three Treasures would surely not abandon you. But since the Imperial Physician is alarmed that your pulse has already changed, you should now put aside the throne of the Ten Virtues and focus only on the path to the enlightenment of the Three Wisdoms. Since the scriptures say that one's rebirth in the Three Realms depends on the final thought at the moment of death, please leave all instructions for the future of the realm, and focus your imperial heart only on the hope of a good rebirth.' The Emperor, breathing with difficulty, said: 'Wife, children, treasures, and the throne—none of these follow one at the moment of death. This is the golden teaching of the Tathagata, and as it has been in my heart throughout my life, I do not care at all for the way Duke Mu of Qin buried his three loyal retainers with him, or how the First Emperor took his treasures to the grave. The only lingering attachment I have, which may follow me through life after life, is the desire to destroy the enemies of the Imperial Court and bring peace to the four seas. After I pass away, let the Seventh Prince ascend to the throne. Let wise men and loyal subjects plan the affairs of state, reward the loyal service of Yoshisada and Yoshisuke, and if their descendants do not act against righteousness, they shall serve as the arms and legs of the throne to pacify the realm. Because I think of this, even if my bones are buried in the moss of the Southern Mountains, my soul will always look toward the sky of the Northern Palace. If you disobey this command and treat righteousness lightly, you are neither a successor to the throne nor a loyal subject.' Having left these detailed imperial words, he held the fifth scroll of the Lotus Sutra in his left hand, rested his right hand on his sword, and at the hour of the Ox on the sixteenth day of the eighth month, he finally passed away. How sad! Although the North Star is high and the hundred officials are lined up like stars, there is not a single subject to serve him on the journey to the Nine Springs. What can be done? The Southern Mountains are remote, and although ten thousand soldiers gather like clouds, there are no troops to stop the enemy of impermanence. It is like a boat capsizing in mid-stream, drifting on the waves of a single jar, or a lamp going out in the dark night, facing the rain of the fifth watch. As for the funeral, because there was a prior imperial will, they did not change his final appearance, but prepared the coffin and the seat properly, and buried him facing north in a high circular mound in the depths of the forest to the northeast of Zao-do at the foot of Mt. Yoshino. In the lonely, empty mountains, the birds cry and the day has already set. On the mound of earth, a few feet of grass; the tears of the sutra-reading are exhausted, but the sorrow is not. The old subjects and consorts weep as they gaze at the clouds of the Imperial Lake, adding their resentment to the moon in the sky, and morning and night in the wind of Baling, they yearn for the parting like flowers in a dream. It was a sorrowful event. That the world is heading toward long-lasting chaos is the custom of the Latter Day of the Law, so it is not worth speaking of for a while. Since the Engi and Tenryaku eras, there has not been a sage king or a god-like ruler as great as the late Emperor, so people all trusted that once his holy virtue blossomed, they would surely achieve their hopes of loyal service. But seeing the Emperor pass away, they felt that the flow of the Mimosuso River had ended, that there was no one left to lean on in the shadow of Mt. Tsukuba, and that the world would fall into the grasp of demons. Feeling hopeless, the court nobles and courtiers who had served him for many years sought hiding places, some treading the waves of the Eastern Sea to follow the traces of Zhong Lian, others singing the songs of the Southern Mountains to learn the ways of Ning Qi. Here, the Yoshino Executive, the Dharma Seal Munenobu of Yoshimizu, secretly heard of this situation and rushed to the palace, saying: 'The late Emperor left a will at the time of his passing that the Seventh Prince should ascend to the throne and fulfill the original intention of pursuing and punishing the enemies of the court, and the nobles themselves heard these imperial words. I find it hard to understand that you are planning to disperse and go into hiding before even a few days have passed. If we measure the present of our country by the examples of foreign lands, did not King Wen, as a ruler in the midst of chaos, start the work of the Zhou Dynasty, and after the Gaozu passed away, did not Empress Xiaojing preserve the Han Dynasty? Even if one person passes away, the old retainers should not think of abandoning their merits and surrendering to the enemy. Especially when counting the government troops who see the danger of the world and treat their lives lightly: first, in Kozuke Province, Nitta Sa-chujo Yoshisada's second son, Sahyoe-no-suke Yoshioki; in Musashi Province, his heir, Sa-shosho Yoshimune; in Echizen Province, Wakiya Gyobu-kyo Yoshisuke and his son Saemon-no-suke Yoshiharu; besides these, the clans of Eda, Odate, Satomi, Toriyama, Tanaka, Hanekawa, Yamana, Momoi, Nukada, Ichinoi, Kanaya, Tsutsumi, Shoryuji, Aosohi, and Komorisawa, totaling over four hundred people, are plotting in the provinces and fortifying themselves in various places. There is no lack of loyal fighting. Among the others, in Tsukushi, Kikuchi, Matsura Kihachiro, Kusano, Yamaga, Doi, and Akaboshi; in Shikoku, Doi, Tokuno, Eda, and Haneyuka; in Awaji, Ama and Shichi; in Aki, Arii; in Iwami, Misumi Nyudo and Goshiro; in Izumo and Hoki, the Nagatoshi clan; in Bingo, Sakurayama; in Bizen, Imaki, Otomi, Wada, and Kojima; in Harima, Yoshikawa; in Kawachi, Wada, Kusunoki, Hashimoto, and Fukuzuka; in Yamato, Miwa no Seia and Maki no Hojumaru; in Kii Province, Yuasa, Yamamoto, Ito Saburo, and Kato Taro; in Totomi, Inosuke; in Mino, Neo Nyudo; in Owari, Atsuta Daiguji; in Echizen, Okuni, Ike, Kazama, Nezu Etchu-no-kami, and Ota Shinano-no-kami; among the mountain monks, Nangan no Enjōin; and countless others. All of them have hearts of loyalty like gold and stone, and they are people who will never change. Although I am unworthy, as long as Munenobu is here, what is there to fear at this mountain? Please, by all means, follow the imperial will, have the successor ascend to the throne, and send out imperial decrees to the provinces.' When he said this, the nobles all thought he was right, and then Kusunoki Tatehaki and Wada Izumi-no-kami arrived with over two thousand horsemen to guard the Imperial Palace. Seeing that it looked truly secure, everyone abandoned their thoughts of dispersing, and the mountain became peaceful again.

3. With reading kana (Full)

From the ninth day of the eighth month of the third year of the En-gen era of the Southern Court, the Emperor at Yoshino fell ill, and his condition gradually worsened. The vows of the Healing Buddha were of no avail in prayer, and the miraculous medicines of Jivaka and Bian Que were ineffective when administered. His jade body faded day by day, and as it appeared the time of his passing was not far off, the Great Pagoda Priest Chūun approached his pillow, wiped away his tears, and said: 'Waiting for the spring when the flowers of Mt. Kamiji bloom twice, if there is a time when the waters of Kiyomizu will finally clear, I had thought that the Buddhas, gods, and the Three Treasures would surely not abandon you. But since the Imperial Physician is alarmed that your pulse has already changed, you should now put aside the throne of the Ten Virtues and focus only on the path to the enlightenment of the Three Wisdoms. Since the scriptures say that one's rebirth in the Three Realms depends on the final thought at the moment of death, please leave all instructions for the future of the realm, and focus your imperial heart only on the hope of a good rebirth.' The Emperor, breathing with difficulty, said: 'Wife, children, treasures, and the throne—none of these follow one at the moment of death. This is the golden teaching of the Tathagata, and as it has been in my heart throughout my life, I do not care at all for the way Duke Mu of Qin buried his three loyal retainers with him, or how the First Emperor took his treasures to the grave. The only lingering attachment I have, which may follow me through life after life, is the desire to destroy the enemies of the Imperial Court and bring peace to the four seas. After I pass away, let the Seventh Prince ascend to the throne. Let wise men and loyal subjects plan the affairs of state, reward the loyal service of Yoshisada and Yoshisuke, and if their descendants do not act against righteousness, they shall serve as the arms and legs of the throne to pacify the realm. Because I think of this, even if my bones are buried in the moss of the Southern Mountains, my soul will always look toward the sky of the Northern Palace. If you disobey this command and treat righteousness lightly, you are neither a successor to the throne nor a loyal subject.' Having left these detailed imperial words, he held the fifth scroll of the Lotus Sutra in his left hand, rested his right hand on his sword, and at the hour of the Ox on the sixteenth day of the eighth month, he finally passed away. How sad! Although the North Star is high and the hundred officials are lined up like stars, there is not a single subject to serve him on the journey to the Nine Springs. What can be done? The Southern Mountains are remote, and although ten thousand soldiers gather like clouds, there are no troops to stop the enemy of impermanence. It is like a boat capsizing in mid-stream, drifting on the waves of a single jar, or a lamp going out in the dark night, facing the rain of the fifth watch. As for the funeral, because there was a prior imperial will, they did not change his final appearance, but prepared the coffin and the seat properly, and buried him facing north in a high circular mound in the depths of the forest to the northeast of Zao-do at the foot of Mt. Yoshino. In the lonely, empty mountains, the birds cry and the day has already set. On the mound of earth, a few feet of grass; the tears of the sutra-reading are exhausted, but the sorrow is not. The old subjects and consorts weep as they gaze at the clouds of the Imperial Lake, adding their resentment to the moon in the sky, and morning and night in the wind of Baling, they yearn for the parting like flowers in a dream. It was a sorrowful event. That the world is heading toward long-lasting chaos is the custom of the Latter Day of the Law, so it is not worth speaking of for a while. Since the Engi and Tenryaku eras, there has not been a sage king or a god-like ruler as great as the late Emperor, so people all trusted that once his holy virtue blossomed, they would surely achieve their hopes of loyal service. But seeing the Emperor pass away, they felt that the flow of the Mimosuso River had ended, that there was no one left to lean on in the shadow of Mt. Tsukuba, and that the world would fall into the grasp of demons. Feeling hopeless, the court nobles and courtiers who had served him for many years sought hiding places, some treading the waves of the Eastern Sea to follow the traces of Zhong Lian, others singing the songs of the Southern Mountains to learn the ways of Ning Qi. Here, the Yoshino Executive, the Dharma Seal Munenobu of Yoshimizu, secretly heard of this situation and rushed to the palace, saying: 'The late Emperor left a will at the time of his passing that the Seventh Prince should ascend to the throne and fulfill the original intention of pursuing and punishing the enemies of the court, and the nobles themselves heard these imperial words. I find it hard to understand that you are planning to disperse and go into hiding before even a few days have passed. If we measure the present of our country by the examples of foreign lands, did not King Wen, as a ruler in the midst of chaos, start the work of the Zhou Dynasty, and after the Gaozu passed away, did not Empress Xiaojing preserve the Han Dynasty? Even if one person passes away, the old retainers should not think of abandoning their merits and surrendering to the enemy. Especially when counting the government troops who see the danger of the world and treat their lives lightly: first, in Kozuke Province, Nitta Sa-chujo Yoshisada's second son, Sahyoe-no-suke Yoshioki; in Musashi Province, his heir, Sa-shosho Yoshimune; in Echizen Province, Wakiya Gyobu-kyo Yoshisuke and his son Saemon-no-suke Yoshiharu; besides these, the clans of Eda, Odate, Satomi, Toriyama, Tanaka, Hanekawa, Yamana, Momoi, Nukada, Ichinoi, Kanaya, Tsutsumi, Shoryuji, Aosohi, and Komorisawa, totaling over four hundred people, are plotting in the provinces and fortifying themselves in various places. There is no lack of loyal fighting. Among the others, in Tsukushi, Kikuchi, Matsura Kihachiro, Kusano, Yamaga, Doi, and Akaboshi; in Shikoku, Doi, Tokuno, Eda, and Haneyuka; in Awaji, Ama and Shichi; in Aki, Arii; in Iwami, Misumi Nyudo and Goshiro; in Izumo and Hoki, the Nagatoshi clan; in Bingo, Sakurayama; in Bizen, Imaki, Otomi, Wada, and Kojima; in Harima, Yoshikawa; in Kawachi, Wada, Kusunoki, Hashimoto, and Fukuzuka; in Yamato, Miwa no Seia and Maki no Hojumaru; in Kii Province, Yuasa, Yamamoto, Ito Saburo, and Kato Taro; in Totomi, Inosuke; in Mino, Neo Nyudo; in Owari, Atsuta Daiguji; in Echizen, Okuni, Ike, Kazama, Nezu Etchu-no-kami, and Ota Shinano-no-kami; among the mountain monks, Nangan no Enjōin; and countless others. All of them have hearts of loyalty like gold and stone, and they are people who will never change. Although I am unworthy, as long as Munenobu is here, what is there to fear at this mountain? Please, by all means, follow the imperial will, have the successor ascend to the throne, and send out imperial decrees to the provinces.' When he said this, the nobles all thought he was right, and then Kusunoki Tatehaki and Wada Izumi-no-kami arrived with over two thousand horsemen to guard the Imperial Palace. Seeing that it looked truly secure, everyone abandoned their thoughts of dispersing, and the mountain became peaceful again.

🟡 Let's learn Kamikaze Kunro!

🟣 Request for information dissemination
Kamikaze Kunro is a visible message (revelation) from the divine world to the Japanese people.
🌷 I am grateful for the connection with you who have arrived at this article. This is an introductory article on Kamikaze Kunro, which was elucidated by Master Yoshisei Miura, the legitimate imperial descendant sent to earth by the Imperial Ancestor Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami.

Kamikaze Kunro, elucidated by Master Yoshisei Miura, clearly indicates the path the Japanese people should take. At this time of crisis for the Japanese people, I ask that you disseminate this information so that as many people as possible can read it.

🌷 Why did the presiding deity of Kunro, Amaterasu Omikami, take such a long time to construct Kamikaze Kunro and manifest the legitimate imperial lineage in this way! If you thoroughly study this one point, you will understand the essence of Kamikaze Kunro and know what we should prioritize now.

The survival of the Japanese people depends on this. Let us awaken to the truth!

I sincerely hope that the painstaking efforts of the presiding deity of Kunro, Amaterasu Omikami, who spent over two thousand years constructing Kamikaze Kunro, and the efforts of Master Yoshisei Miura, who spent his life elucidating it, will be utilized for the happiness of Japan and all Japanese people.

🌷 Kamikaze Kunro and the 'Divine Imperial Lineage' manifested in it are the treasures of the Japanese people! Let us further our research!

Since the presiding deity of Kamikaze Kunro is Amaterasu Omikami, she will be very pleased if you let as many people as possible know about the existence of Kunro.
I ask that you share the existence of Kamikaze Kunro with as many people as possible.

🟡Prayer
I sincerely thank you that all humanity in the whole world is healthy, energetic, bright, wealthy, happy, spending peaceful days, walking the path of spiritual improvement, fulfilling the mission for which they were born into this world, and contributing to the evolution and development of the great universe!

*********************************
🟡 Thank you for reading to the end.
Kunro Philosophy Research Association Choseishi Suzuki
Blog Kunro Philosophy Research Association
Email (shinpukanro024@yahoo.co.jp)
*********************************