Japanese Commentary on the Praise of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva... 7/20 Imprisonment

Japanese Commentary on the Praise of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva... 7/20

Imprisonment

If a person is bound and imprisoned, with their body shackled and fettered, if they sincerely call upon the name of Avalokitesvara, that person will be instantly liberated.

If a person is bound and imprisoned without guilt, their hands shackled, feet fettered, and neck in a cangue, and their body bound with chains, if they sincerely contemplate Avalokitesvara and chant the name, the bonds will instantly break, the prison will be destroyed, and they will escape.

After the fall of the Heike, Kagekiyo retired to the Grand Priest of Atsuta in Owari, but Yoritomo imprisoned the Grand Priest. Hearing of this, Kagekiyo went up to the capital, presented himself at the Rokuhara mansion, and allowed himself to be bound and placed in a strict cage. However, hearing people say that Kagekiyo, who was once called an incarnation of Avalokitesvara during the Heike era, had now lost his divine power, he contemplated Avalokitesvara in his heart and pushed against the cage with his right hand; the large nails snapped, the ropes loosened, and he emerged from the broken cage to make a pilgrimage to Kiyomizu.