Read, reflect, pray
Inari Daimyōjin purification
稲荷大明神祓
A text in the 1911 Shintō Ōharai Zenshū anthology. It is presented as a historical reading, not the current ritual of every shrine or temple.
English meaning, sound explanations and source text
English meaning and sound explanations
About this English rendering
This site’s English rendering of the Japanese meaning guide, aligned with this edition. It is separate from the source words for recitation and is not an official liturgy. Sacred sounds are explained where possible, not given speculative literal translations. Historical beliefs, royal authority, illness and protection claims belong to the text; they are not present-day judgments, medical advice or guarantees of results.
By command of Kamurogi and Kamuromi, imperial ancestral kami in Takamagahara, we address the five greatly beneficent kami who guard the seeds of grain in the fertile reed-plain land and dwell as the five-shrine Daimyōjin of Inari: Ukanomitama, Ōnamuchi, Ōta, Ōmiyahime and Ukemochi.
In words of purification we honor you for widely sending down the primal seeds of grain from heaven, bringing abundant autumn rice harvests for all time, nourishing the emperor and the people, and giving birth to and raising descendants through the generations. The latter part continues by praising seasonal winds, the circulation of vital influences, the dwelling, and the blessings of the divine way.
The connections among ‘立春の秋風,’ ‘明安正家の住,’ and ‘能風秋の神道に奉出り’ cannot be established from this edition. The first part is translated; only identifiable words are explained in the latter part.
These shining blessings are all the virtue of Inari’s five-shrine Daimyōjin: with reverence we declare this.
Praising your virtue, the text says that among the many seeds called the ten grains, the five grains will never fail to bear fruit. Guard what we pray and wish for, and grant blessing. Protect us through the divine way, the supremely precious spiritual treasure.
Source text and reading aid
Roman letters are provided for 2 of 4 lines. Readings not fully supplied in the source are left without Roman letters.
How to use the Roman letters
Roman letters follow the kana displayed in this site’s Japanese reader; some readings are editorial additions documented on the Japanese page. These are a reading aid, not restored Sanskrit or a recording of a temple’s chanting. Historical spellings (such as wo, wi, we and ha used as a particle) are kept. Double vowels and repeated vowels mark the written kana; rhythm and pronunciation can differ by tradition.
You can simply read the meaning or sit quietly. No recitation is required. For a temple or shrine’s own recitation, follow that tradition’s published guidance.
高天原に神留座す皇親、神漏岐神漏冊の命を以て、豊葦原の瑞穂の国、五穀の種津物、神霊飯成五社大明神へ鎮座す稲蒼魂命、大己貴命、太田命、大宮姫命、保食命、五柱の大恩神。
天より五穀の元祖にして、普く種を降し、千代万代まで秋の垂穂八握に莫々、上は帝を始奉り、顕主蒼生を養之、心の儘に潔く生の子の八十続まで生成賜ふと祓申奉り、敬へば、立春の秋風、通気自在の徳、明安正家の住に、能風秋の神道に奉出り。
光皆稲里五社大明神の徳なりと恐美恐美申す。
hikariminainari goshiyadaimiyaujinno tokunarito osoremiosoremi mausu.
世は十穀の種津物、五穀成就不致といふ事なし。祈処願処、守幸給ひ。無上霊宝神道加持。
seha tokusano tanatsumono, gokokujiyaujiyu sezutoifu kotonashi. inoru tokoronegafutokoro, mamori saihahi tamahi. uhenakimitama shindaukaji.
Connected kami and buddhas
These connections include figures addressed, mentioned, or associated by tradition. They do not assign a universal recitation practice.
Sources and edition (1)
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.