Translation: myself
Lyrics & music: Kujou Takemasa
鉢特摩ヨリ [Hadoma yori] (no vid available)
From the Hell of Crimson Lotus
Haunting the endless cycle of rebirth One's inborn nature
Laughing evilly
Painting the cavity And running after personal grudges
Another disoriented person ah-.
Rumors are drifting towards joy
Laughing foolishly
A face with two dancing tongues [Shows] feigned ignorance
The one appealing more to the divine will is
Floating across the three currents (1)
A swarm revolving in nonsense Coronation (2) has ended Let's put the crimson lotus on
That is, the heaven sent ends Beckoning flame
The one who has an evil influence on a pure person [dwelling] in the frog's well (3) Weal and woe is... what I ask
Too late Yet, as a human being It's different
Flicker and bewilderment Being intoxicated in nectar
Laughing in no wickedness
Moaning voice is approaching "Look, I caught you"
The one appealing more to the divine will is
Floating across the three currents
A swarm sent back to death (4) Escapes without making sacrifices Going beyond the blue lotus (5)
Flower petals fluttering on one's limbs The lotus flower is crimson
Knowing one's death while being insistenly ignorant fool One's own weakness
Ah Intensely Lamenting
For thousands of years Without having or even knowing one's whereabouts I draw a spiral
Slowly, one's face being ripped off The lotus on one's limbs
Hateful fate
Crimson firmament Illuminated in setting sun Dazzling beauty
Beyond it The lotus blooms
More appealing than myriads of years, regrettable [worldly] existence.
It doesn't stop raining from the cloudy sky and it accelerates the north wind (6).
Foolishness landing in seven [pieces] (7) reaches its peak, the lotus won't wither today.
I think... "Get lost"
Footnotes:
- A reference to Sanzu river (三途の川 [Sanzu no kawa] - River of Three Crossings) - Japanese buddhist equivalent of Styx from Greek mythology; the three crossings are: a bridge, a ford, and a spot where there's only deep serpent-infested water; your route across Sanzu is chosen depending on the weight of your sins commited while being alive
- I think it's a reference to the 鉢 kanji of 鉢特摩, which means inter alia crown
- 井蛙 [seia] - frog in a well refers to a person with a narrow perspective; the proverbial frog who jugdes the entire world knowing only its own narrow well
- 寂滅 [jakumetsu] can mean nirvana as well
- A reference to 摩訶鉢特摩地獄 [Makahadoma jigoku] known as Hell of Blue Lotus; even colder than Hadoma, but sinners undergo similar torments (see: discussion)
- North is associated with one of buddhist Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennou) - Tamonten (Bishamonten); Bishamonten also belongs to one of Japanese Seven Lucky Gods (Shichi Fukujin), praised by samurai as the god of fortune in war; he protects those who follow the rules; Tamonten is also mentioned in Lotus sutra
- See: discussion
Discussion:
<ramble> They say, curiosity killed a cat.
"I wonder what Negi's lyrics would look like"
"They shouldn't be so extensively difficult"
I was sorely mistaken. </ramble>
According to Lotus sutra, every single person is eligible for aquiring Enlightenment and entering the Buddhahood. But what if we compare the greed for Enlightenment to something that is the total opposite of it?
Well... Hell.
Buddhist concept of hell is much more complex than that of Christian one. You might be accustomed to the existence of sole hell, with blazing inferno and whatnot. Buddhist one, referred to as Naraka differentiates into eight hot and layering them eight cold hells called Jigoku. Each Jigoku has its something I call "sub-hells" (lesser hells) which yields approximately 270 hells in total. Essentially, Jigoku are placed one over another, meaning - the deeper one, the more severe it becomes.
While you can find numerous information on monstrous, fiery Jigoku, it's much more difficult to collect any relevant data on those horrendously cold ones. Essentially the Hadoma from this song's title is the seventh cold Jigoku, also known as 紅蓮地獄 [guren jigoku] - literally Hell of Crimson Lotus. Briefly speaking, people who fall into this Jigoku, undergo an extreme freeze making their skin crack in pattern resembling a lotus flower and revealing bloody flesh, hence its name. But what kind of sinner does end up in Hadoma? I would like to know the exact answer myself. English and Japanese resources seem to be utterly clueless. Chinese resources, on the other hand, reveal something about buddhist monks. Monks are somewhat connected with Enlightenment, right.
Since Hadoma is the seventh Jigoku, I think, the number 7 might be also essential to the overall understanding. 7 in buddhism is associated with the death and rebirth. Also, it refers to the Seven Factors of Enlightenment:
- Mindfulness - holistic awareness of the present moment; to abstain from desires, daydreams, judgements and conceptualizations
- Investigation - the truth of the nature of existence should be found by the individual themself
- Energy - the required strength and courage on one's path to Enlightenment
- Happiness - to do what makes one content
- Tranquility - the necessity of rest after finished work to calm one's mind
- Concentration - (do I need to elaborate)
- Enquanmity - to not get into extremes of likes and dislikes
Basically, what one should do to achieve eventual Enlightenment.
I think it is a good moment for summing all this mess up. Lotus hell - Lotus sutra. Meaning, constant pursuit of Enlightenment. The subject of Hadoma yori is somehow unable to achieve it themself due to their mental dissonance which is unfavorable in buddhist concept of Enlightenment. It gradually leads to the crippling feel of envy, because they see everybody being in better situation than them, being more eligible for the divine will than them which makes them all the more distant from their dream if we consider teachings of Seven Factors of Enlightenment. But it is said, everyone can be enlightened, right? So is the subject still desperately trying to change their miserable fate.
Literal hell of a song, that is. Yet, extremely interesting. Also, really difficult to explain its hidden meaning due to its complexity. This makes me think it is a contest - who will come up with more intricate lyrics. Negi, you can compete with Mahiro. That is already something in and of itself, maan.
I found something about monks in hell, though it's not the hell of the crimson lotus. Maybe it still would be intresting
ReplyDeletehttp://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100137?x=&y=&s=&d_lang=en&s_lang=&word=&class=&title=&c_e=®ion=&era=&cptype=&owner=&pos=1&num=1&mode=¢ury=
I was curious about time, that one has to spent in cold hells and found table about Realms of Rebirth.
DeleteIt's on page 47 in document below
https://abhidharmakosa.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/kosa-study-materials.pdf
This is... hella interesting, mate!
DeleteThank you ~ (and congrats on making me want to spend another hours on researching on hells (:3 _ )=)
Also, if you are, by chance, interested in anime as well, I'd suggest watching Hoozuki no reitetsu
It is a dark comedy, set in buddhist hells
Its humor may seem quite hermetic at first glance, but it actually clarifies the concept of buddhist hells pretty well (and needles to say, it's one of my favorite series ever)
I watch anime from time to time. Dark comedy, huh? And now I'm intrested =)
ReplyDeleteAlso I skimed third chapter of Abhidharma-kosa.
It was hard reading ><
And there's nothing about reasons to fall to cold hells.
So english wiki pretty accurate in names and tortures, and in that part about barrel of sesame seeds and so on.
I found only one new intresting thing.
Those ones, who have bad karma, also have twisted minds. They can suffer from fire and heat or severe wind and great cold. So those ones search for relief, but their state tricks them. Some of them wish for warmth and it leads them to hot hells. Some of them wish for fresh and it leads them to cold hells. And this is how karma leads everybody to their places.
I hope I translated this part understandable, because I use book with commentaries in my native language.
https://youtu.be/01sIxAFUEtw here's a trailer for your consideration ~ and the second season is coming soon (in Fall)
Deleteholy duck, that's intriguing
the whole concept of buddhist hells is very interesting, I think
hells and lesser hells, tailored for every sinner out there
and that piece of information got me an idea regarding Hadoma yori
It's pretty much understandable, but does that book tell what they mean by "warmth" and "fresh"?
(You lucky, researching resources in my native is utterly pointless)
I tried to translate as close to that part as possible. That book is really hard. It containt close translation from Tibetan original texts, so language sometimes is very intricate.
DeleteMaybe it would be clearer if I add some context.
That part is about moment of choice where rebirth will have its place.
There's several ways to be "born":
from eggs - beings who arise from eggs, geese, cranes, peacocks, etc.
from wombs - beings who arise from a womb, elephants, horses, cows, pigs, etc.
from moisture - beings who arise from the exudation of the elements, earth, etc., -worms, insects, etc.
apparational being - they arise all at once [without an embryonic state, semen and blood]; such as gods, beings in hell.
Apparitional birth is the best but Buddhas are born from wombs (to encourage & reassure beings, and leave relics).
All bieng are driven by desire, when they search a place of rebirth.
Beings which arise from moisture go to their place of rebirth through desire for odors.
Beings born from wombs and eggs through desire for sex.
Apparitional beings through desire for residence. And after this part put that one I write in previous post.
And one more intresting thing. All biengs can see only lower layers of worlds, I think that's why in song is line only about the great lotus hell.
Oh, I was confused, there's line about blue lotus hell, thats 6th cold naraka =(
DeleteMaybe it's about falling to 7th hell and just skipping higher ones.
Generally speaking, which hell you'll end in is determined by your sins as a human being. Hmm, I need to think about it a bit more.
DeleteI think that "warmth" may refer to the desire for being loved whatsoever and "fresh" means longing for new experiences and changes in life, in an unhealthy way, that is. But I'm not 100% sure. That would explain why the subject of Hadoma yori ends up in a cold naraka.
But on the other hand, when you read descriptions of hot narakas, sinners dwelling there aren't particularly the ones who desired any kind of warmth. I want to know how it works as a whole though ~