Condolences on a Deceased Husband Chapter11

Japan has by now become a country in which slanders of the correct teaching are taking place to a large degree, and it would appear that it is ripe for invasion by foreign lands.

If one is aware of this fact but fails to speak out about it, then although one may enjoy peace and security in one’s present existence, one will surely fall into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering in the existence to come. On the other hand, if, out of fear of that fate, one does speak out, one must be prepared to suffer exile or the death penalty.

With this in mind, in the time of the Bunnō era [1260] I submitted a petition to the late lay priest of Saimyō-ji. However, my advice was not heeded. At that time the Nembutsu believers, hearing of what I had done, conspired with their followers in high and low positions and attacked me with intent to murder, though they did not succeed in their objective.

[The regent Hōjō] Nagatoki, the governor of Musashi, who was a son of the lay priest of Gokuraku-ji temple²³ and aware of his father’s feelings in the matter, quite unreasonably had me exiled to the province of Izu. As anyone can see, the result is that the lay priest of Gokuraku-ji, Nagatoki, and their relatives perished.

Sometime thereafter, I was summoned back from exile. Once more I spoke out as the sutra dictates, this time with more force than ever, and once more, on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei [1271], I was exiled, this time to the island province of Sado. As I predicted at the time I incurred official displeasure, the members of the ruling clan who condemned me to exile then fell to quarreling among themselves.²⁴ Perhaps because of fear of this situation, I was recalled from exile once again. However, my counsels were not heeded and the common people more and more gave themselves up to ill will.

Though one may risk one’s life in offering admonitions, if the rulers of the nation do not heed them, then there can be no doubt that the nation is destined for destruction. However, if the rulers fail to take heed even after one has pointed out their errors, then the fault does not lie with the admonisher. With this thought in mind, I left Kamakura in Sagami Province on the twelfth day of the fifth month in the eleventh year of Bun’ei [1274]. From the seventeenth day of the sixth month of that same year I have been residing deep in the mountains here, and for five years now have not ventured a hundred meters beyond the gate.

I come originally from the province of Awa. A steward in the province, Tōjō Saemon-no-jō Kagenobu, spurred on by the lay priest of Gokuraku-ji, the lay priest Tōji Saemon,²⁵ and all the Nembutsu believers, had from time to time brought lawsuits against me. In the end, he launched hostilities against me,²⁶ and thereafter the supporters of the lay priest of Gokuraku-ji succeeded in twisting the law so that the area of Tōjō Kagenobu’s jurisdiction was closed to me and I was not allowed to enter it. Hence it has been many years since I have been able to visit the graves of my father and mother.

In addition, I have twice incurred the displeasure of the rulers of the country. The second time, it was formally announced that I would be condemned to exile in a distant region, though in private the word went out that I was to be beheaded. On the twelfth day of the ninth month, at the hour of the ox [1:00 to 3:00 a.m.], I was led to Tatsunokuchi in Kamakura to be executed. Then for some reason or other an object like a moon came flying up from the direction of Enoshima and hung over the executioner’s head. He was too terrified to carry out his task, and meanwhile various circumstances developed, so that that night I escaped being put to death.

Later, after I had been exiled to the province of Sado, there was another attempt to behead me, but as I have stated earlier, contention broke out among the parties in Kamakura and a messenger was hurriedly sent to Sado, so I escaped beheading. In the end I was pardoned, and now live alone in the mountains.