Questions and Answers on the Object of Devotion Chapter11-2
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In addition to its military activities, the imperial court exerted utmost effort in carrying out prayers to defeat the shogunate. Those conducting such prayers included the Administrator of Priests Jien, chief priest of the Tendai school, as well as the chief priest of Tō-ji temple of the True Word school, the prelate of Ninna-ji temple, the chief official of Onjō-ji temple, and eminent priests of the seven major temples of Nara and the fifteen great temples,22 all as brilliant as the sun and moon in their wisdom and observance of the precepts.
The ceremonies of esoteric Buddhism carried out included the fifteen secret ceremonies,23 the great ceremonies of profound secret kept in the minds of the three great teachers, Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō. From the nineteenth day of the fifth month until the fourteenth day of the sixth month the participants poured out sweat and all but split their heads open in their exertions.
Finally the prelate of Ninna-ji at the Shishin-den hall of the imperial palace conducted the great ceremony, a ceremony that had not been performed three times since its introduction to Japan.
This last ceremony was begun on the eighth day of the sixth month, yet on the fourteenth day of the same month the armed forces dispatched by the shogunate in Kanto in one swoop crossed the Uji and Seta rivers24 and fought their way into Kyoto. The three retired emperors [Gotoba and his two sons] were taken prisoner, and the imperial palace, put to the torch, in one stroke was reduced to ashes.
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Notes
22. The fifteen great temples are the seven major temples of Nara (see Glossary) plus eight other important temples in the Nara, Osaka, and Kyoto areas.
23. In the fourth month of 1221—around the time of the disturbance between the court and the Kamakura warriors—by command of the Retired Emperor of Oki, altars were set up, and fifteen secret ceremonies were carried out for the first time by forty-one practitioners in an attempt to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate through the power of incantation. The fifteen secret ceremonies are referred to later in this text.
24. The Uji River is the name of the middle reaches of the Seta River, which originates at the southern edge of Lake Biwa and flows through Kyoto Prefecture, eventually emptying into Osaka Bay. In former times, it marked the southeastern line of defense for Kyoto, the capital, and was the site of several famous battles. Because of its strategic importance, whether or not one succeeded in crossing the Uji River determined victory or defeat of one’s troops. Seta, the area facing the site where this river emerges from the lake, was another strategic point of defense.