Gosanka Poems, Revised, "I Have Been Saved"

         
240   如 何ならむ 善き行ひも神知らぬ 人は大方利己のためなる
   

What ever good deeds
Do people, if they do
Not know that God does
Exist, are simply looking out
For their own interest.

Page 54, S6-90A; S5-118C 如何ならむ 善き行も神知らぬ 人は大方利己の為なる In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 10, December 20, 1949; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 70A; Prayers and Poems, page 70A; Book of Gosanka, page 56, #224.
 
Prayers and Gosanka translation
No matter how good / An act may seem, it’s likely, / If it was performed / By one with no faith in God, / That his motive was selfish.
 
Prayers and Poems translation
No matter how good / An act may seem, it is likely, / If it was performed / By one with no faith in God, / That the motive was selfish.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
No matter how good / One’s deed may seem in one’s eyes, / It may not be so; / For if one does not know God, / ‘Tis more likely ‘tis for self.
 
         
241   神知らぬ 人の誠は形のみ 神知る人の誠ぞ真なる
    Genuine is the love and
Sincerity of those who do
Know God; the love and
Sincerity of those who do not
Know God is only form.
Page 54, S6-90B; S5-118D 神知らぬ 人の誠は形のみ 神知る人の誠ぞ真なる In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 10, December 20, 1949; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 39B; Prayers and Poems, page 39B; Sounds of the Dawn, Volume I, pages 69 & 217, #164; Book of Gosanka, page 47, #185.
         
Prayers and Gosanka & Sounds of the Dawn translations
The love of people / Without faith in God is weak, / Shallow, has no truth. / Only the love of people / Who have faith is a true love.
 
Prayers and Poems translations
The love of those / Who have no faith in God / Is superficial. / The love of those with faith / Is true indeed.
 
Book of Gosanka translations
One’s sincerity / Is but a mere empty form / If one knows not God; / But sincerity that’s true / Is in one’s heart that knows God.
 
         
242  

佯りや 秘密なき世を造らむと 夜昼心を砕く吾かも

    I, Mokichi Okada,
Ruminate and work
Night and day
To build a world
Free from lies and secrets.
Page 55, S6-90C; S5-119D 偽りや 秘密なき世を造らんと 夜昼心を砕く吾かも In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 11, December 20, 1949.
 
         
243  

耳近く ひそひそ語る人こそは 心ゆるせぬ人と思ひそ

    Observe that it is
Those who whisper in
Your ear about
Others who are
Not to be trusted. 
Page 55, S6-90D; S5-120A 耳近く ひそひそ語る人こそは 心許せぬ人と思ひそ In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 10, December 20, 1949; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 70B; Prayers and Poems, page 70B; Book of Gosanka, page 17, #68; all previous translations based on non-Meishu-ssama text 耳近く ひそひそ語る人こそは 心ゆるせぬ人と思ひね 
         
Prayers and Gosanka translation
If you talk with one / Who whispers negative things / And says that his words / Should be kept secret from all, / You cannot give him your trust.
 
Prayers and Poems translation
The person / Who draws close / And whispers negative things / Is not someone to whom / You can give your trust.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
One who soft-whispers / To another secretly / E’er close to his ear— / Is one we must all regard / As one whom we ought not trust.
 
 
244  

吾は唯 世の為人の為のみに 竭すにしあれば心明るし

    I am happy
When I work
Only for
The world,
For people.
Page 55, S6-91A; S5120B, 吾はただ 世の為人の為のみに 尽くすにしあれば心明るし. In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Deceit” in Chijôtengoku, Issue 11, December 20, 1949, page 11; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 42C; Prayers and Poems, page 42C; Sounds of the Dawn, Volume I, pages 73 & 223, #175; Book of Gosanka, page 26, #104; non-Meishu-sama text on which all previous translations are based 吾は唯 世の為人の為のみに 竭すと思へば心明るし
      Prayers and Gosanka & Sounds of the Dawn, Volume I   translation
My mind is serene, / Cheerful, for I am working / For humanity, / Only for the good of man, / The good of the entire world.
 
Prayers and Poems translation
My mind is serene and cheerful / For I am working / For humanity, / Only for the good of others, / The good of the entire world.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
My heart lightens up, / When I think that I have lived / Only to serve well / My fellow man and this world, / For the sake of all mankind.
 
         
245  

正しきを 行ふものは明るかり 曲の忍ぶる隙のなければ

    Those who do what
Is right shine, and
Have no breach
That evil can
Enter and hide.
Page 55, S6-91B; S5-120E正しきを 行ふものの昔より 曲のさやりのある世なりけり In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Deceit” in Chijôtengoku, Issue 11, December 20, 1949, page 11; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 70C, Prayers and Poems, page 70C, Book of Gosanka, page 52, #205; non-Meishu-sama text on which all previous translations are based正しきを 行ふものは明るかり 曲の忍ばむ隙のなければ
A person who does
The right things is
Bright and happy,
Because he or she never gives any evil
The slightest chance to creep in.
 Translation by taki
S5-120E translation
Those who do what / Is right, for long it / Has been a world / Full of traps  / Set by evil.
 
      Prayers and Gosanka translation
Those who do what’s right / Are always cheerful, happy, / For there is no time, / Not one unguarded moment, / When dark forces can steal in.
 
Prayers and Poems translation
Those who do what is right / Are always cheerful, happy, / For there is no time— / Not one unguarded moment— / When dark forces can steal in.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
Those who do what’s right— / Deeds of virtue honestly— / Are cheerful and bright; / For there’s not an opening / E’er for Evil to steal in. 
 
         
246  

神命の まま進みゆく吾等には 曲の騒ぎも浜の松風

    As winds through the pines
On a beach seem the stirrings of
Evil forces to those of us who
Advance in accord
With God’s will.
Page 55, S6-91C; S5-120D 神命の まま進みゆく吾等には 曲のさやぎも浜の松風  In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 11, December 20, 1949; previous translation, Book of Gosanka, page 54, #216.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
To us believers, / Who go straight forward in life, / Following God’s Will, / Any babel of Evil / Is but a breeze through shore pines.
 
         
247  

人によく 思はれたしと願ふ人 大方神を忘れ勝ちなる

    Those who seek
The esteem of
Others frequently
Find themselves
Forgetting God. 
Page 56, S6-91D; S5-121D 人に良く 思はれたしとおもふ人 大方神を忘れがちなる In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 12, December 20, 1949; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 71A; Prayers and Poems, page 71A; Sounds of the Dawn, Volume II, pages 17 & 119, #31; Book of Gosanka, page 18, #72.
 
Prayers and Gosanka & Sounds of the Dawn translation
People too concerned / With attempts to wind favor / In other men’s eyes, / To gain approval from them, / Tend to forget God exists.
 
Prayers and Poems translation
People too concerned / With attempts to wind favor / In other’s eyes, / To gain approval from them, / Tend to forget God exists.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
Those who do desire / To look good and be admired / By their fellow man, / In all probability, / Tend to forget about God.
 
         
248  

目に見ゆる 徳は真の徳ならじ 見えぬ徳こそ神に通はめ

    Invisible virtue
Reaches God;
Visible virtue is
Not genuine,
Not true virtue. 
S6-91E, Page 56; S5-121E, 眼に見ゆる 徳は誠の徳ならじ 見えぬ徳こそ神に通はむ In a set of poems dated October 20, 1949 and titled “Honesty and Falsehood” in Chijôtenoku, Issue 11, page 12, December 20, 1949; previous translations, Prayers and Gosanka, page 71B; Prayers and Poems, page 71B; Sounds of the Dawn, Volume II, pages 8 & 101, #12; Book of Gosanka, page, 51, #203.
      PG, PP, SD translation
Good deeds done for show / Are not signs of true virtue. / Only those good deeds / Which are done quite in secret / Become treasures in heaven.
 
Book of Gosanka translation
All virtuous deeds, / Intended for human eyes / Are not real virtues; / Good deed done that can’t be seen / Are in God’s Eyes virtuous.