Welcome to our site.
This is the website of MORINORI, which holds small Heikyoku (a performance of the Heike Monogatari accompanied by Heike biwa) concerts and lectures. On this page, we introduce a modern translation of the Heike Monogatari, Volume 12, “Rokudaikirare”. It’s not very good, but please take a look if you like.
▼For first-time visitors
https://morinorijapan.com/en/welcome
▼Program introduction
https://morinorijapan.com/en/performance-lineup
▼Listen to Heikyoku
https://morinorijapan.com/en/watch-the-sound/
▼Click here for a list of modern translations of the Tale of the Heike
The Tale of the Heike is performed at concerts and lectures, etc., in modern Japanese translation.
https://morinorijapan.com/en/category/tale-of-the-heike-en/
Tale of the Heike, Volume XII: “Rokudaikirare” – A Brief Summary
Rokudai-gozen grew up to be a beautiful woman. MinamotonoYoritomo hears about this and asks Mongakubou whether Rokudai-gozen will avenge her father’s shame, but Mongakubou reassures Yoritomo by saying that Rokudai-gozen is a fool. However, Kamakura-dono still has misgivings and fears that Rokudai may be plotting a rebellion. At the suggestion of his mother, Rokudai becomes a priest and sets off on a journey of spiritual training. At Koyasan, she asks a holy man with whom she has a connection about her father, and she also visits her father’s grave in Kumano and holds a memorial service. At the time, the world was unstable because the ex-Emperor Go-Toba was indulging in pleasure and neglecting politics. After Yoritomo died, Mongaku plotted a rebellion, but it failed and he was exiled to Oki Province. After that, Rokudai Gozen continued his training in Takao, but Minamoto no Yoritomo (the Kamakura Shogun) captured him and ordered him to be sent to Kamakura. Ultimately, Rokudai Gozen was beheaded on the banks of the Tagoshi River, and the descendants of the Taira clan died out here.
The Tale of the Heike, Volume XII: Rokudaikirare – Full modern translation of the
text, transcribed from the Heikyoku score “Rokudaikirare”
Later, when Rokudai-gozen was 14 or 15 years old, she was so beautiful that she made everyone around her shine. Her mother, looking at her, said, “If the world were peaceful, she would probably be a Konoe no Kami by now,” and her sadness was evident.
When he heard this, MinamotonoYoritomo (Kamakura-dono) would send a letter to Mongaku-bo in Takao, asking him, “Will Rokudai be the one to avenge my father’s shame by defeating the enemies of the imperial court, just as the saint once protected Yoritomo?” In response, Mongaku replied, “Rokudai-gozen is a complete idiot, so please don’t worry.”
However, Kamakura-dono continued to feel uneasy, and expressed his concern, saying, ”If he were to rebel, he would immediately side with the enemy. As long as Yoritomo is alive, there will be no problem, but I don’t know what will happen to his descendants.”
When she heard this, her mother urged her to “please become a nun, Rokudai-gozen”. In the spring of the fifth year of the Bunji era, when Rokudai-gozen turned sixteen, she cut off her beautiful hair with scissors at the level of her shoulders, and, having prepared a persimmon-colored robe, hakama and oi, she immediately set off on a journey of ascetic practice. Saitougo and Saitouroku also changed their appearance in the same way and accompanied Rokudai-gozen.
First, he climbed up to Koyasan to visit the priest his father was close to, and asked him in detail about his father’s ordination and the circumstances of his death. After that, he also visited Kumano, as he missed his father’s footsteps. From the Hamanomiya shrine, he looked out over the mountain called Yamanarishima, which his father had crossed, and wanted to cross it himself, but the waves and wind were too strong, and he could do nothing. I wanted to ask the white waves that were coming in from the sea, “Where did my father sink?” Looking at the sand on the beach, I thought longingly that this might be my father’s bones, and my sleeves became wet with tears, just like the clothes of a diver who scoops up salt from the sea, and the tears kept flowing without stopping. She spent the night on the beach, drew a picture of Buddha in the sand with the tip of her finger, performed good deeds for her father, and then returned to the capital, transferring all the merits to her father’s spirit.
At that time, the Emperor was Go-Toba, who was absorbed in his own pleasures and left all the political affairs to the court ladies, so there were many people who were dissatisfied. Just as the King of Wu was fond of swordsmanship, and there were many people injured throughout the land, and just as the King of Chu loved women with slender waists, and many women died of starvation in the palace, it was the custom of the world to follow the tastes of those in power, and the world was in danger, and all the people of good heart were lamenting and grieving.
The person known as Ninomiya was diligent in his studies and followed the correct path. However, Mongaku was a fearsome holy man who interfered in things he should not have. He wanted to somehow make this palace his, but he was unable to do so while Yoritomo was alive.
After that, Yoritomo died on January 13th of the 10th year of the Kenkyuu era at the age of 53. Mongaku immediately started a rebellion, but word of his plan leaked out, and many officials were sent to his lodging place in Nijo Inokuma, where he was captured and exiled to Oki Province.
When Mongaku was leaving the capital, he said, “Even if I receive the imperial censure, I will not be allowed to stay even in a corner of the capital, but will be exiled to the faraway Oki Province. I will come to greet you in the country where you have been exiled.” Mongaku said this while jumping up and down. This is because the Emperor (Go-Toba) loved the ball In Oki Province, the ghost of Mongaku is said to have gone wild and appeared before the ex-Emperor Go-Toba, telling him various stories.
After that, Rokudai Gozen was concentrating on her training as the third rank Zen priest in the depths of Takao, but Kamakura-dono (Minamoto no Yoritomo) said, “Even if he shaves his head, he cannot be made to shave his heart away, because he is the son of a man who has left and a disciple of a man who has left,” and ordered Yasukane Anbakan to capture Rokudai Gozen and send her to Kamakura. He then ordered Okabe Gonmori Yasutsuna, a resident of Suruga Province, to finally behead Rokudai Gozen on the banks of the Tagoshi River. It is said that Rokudai Gozen’s life was sustained from the age of 12 to over 30 years old, and that this was solely due to the grace of the Kannon of Hase. After the death of Sanmi Zenji, the descendants of the Taira clan were forever cut off.
▼Click here for a list of modern translations of the Tale of the Heike
*The Tale of the Heike is performed at concerts and lectures, etc., in modern Japanese translation.
https://morinorijapan.com/category/tale-of-the-heike/
Thank you for reading this far.
I hope to see you somewhere someday.
