Yetgeul › Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) › Former Collection, Book 39

Text for the Flower Garland dharma assembly held at Mokchin Hall to turn away calamity and portent穆親殿。行災變祈禳華嚴法席文。

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 1 passages · 210 Chinese characters · reading time 2.1 min

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 39 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.

一音妙說。無非微密之法門。三譯靈編。獨極圓融之性海。譚揚苟篤。饒潤叵涯。伏念弟子謬以眇沖。託玆艱大。念祖功之積累。用敷遺後人休。履天位以凌兢。無遑曰今日樂。然政刑解弛而不能振起。抑風俗搶攘而尙未維持。積此陵夷。居常惕懼。況閱術家之諗。不無天數之屯。加又察諸地理。則可虞水戶之災。觀乎天文。則屢見星官之譴。若玆變異。何以祓禳。宜營最勝之緣。仰丐大悲之援。斯涓良日。特掃內闈。招迎鷲嶺之眞流。敷演虯宮之聖典。願輪方轉。覺鑑已通。伏願遄沐慈庥。誕膺純嘏。六氣不忒。陰陽和風雨時。四方咸寧。弓矢韜干戈戢。

Marvelously preaching with a single voice, there is nothing in it that is not a hidden gate of the Law; and the divine book turned three times alone exhausts the sea of nature that pervades all. If the discoursing and sending abroad of it be made deep, its ample moistening has no end.

Prostrate, I consider that this disciple, wrongly, with a small and young body, has taken charge of this difficult and great seat. Thinking upon the merit my ancestors heaped up, I would set forth the fairness they left to those who come after; and treading the seat Heaven gave as warily as one treads upon ice, I have no leisure to say that today is pleasant. Even so, government and punishment have slackened and cannot be roused up, and customs are in disorder and cannot yet be held and kept. That such decline should pile up keeps me always in fear.

Still more, when I examine the diviners' words, there is no lack of blockage in Heaven's fortune; when I examine the lie of the land, I fear the calamity that will come from the station of the water-force (水戶); and when I look at the heavens, the reproaches of the constellations are often to be seen. With what shall such portents be shaken off and done away? It is fitting to prepare the most surpassing of causes and to look up and pray for the help of great compassion.

So, choosing out a good day, I have the inner palace specially swept, and welcome the true company of Mount Yeongchwi to unroll and read the holy scripture of the dragon palace. The wheel of the vow has just begun to turn, and the mirror of enlightenment has already come through.

Prostrate, I pray that we may swiftly be steeped in the shade of compassion and receive great blessing. Let the six airs not go awry, so that yin and yang are even and wind and rain keep their season; and let all four quarters be at peace, so that bow and arrow are hidden away and spear and shield are put up.

‹ Text for the Prajna rite at Yeojeong Palace, praying for favor at the investiture of the Palace Mistress (宮主)Contents Text for the specially appointed Seon-discourse assembly at Seobotongsa ›Listen to this piece