Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Read, reflect, pray

Sarutahiko festival prayer: Kōshin

猿田彦神祭・庚申祭さるたひこのかみのまつり・こうしんさい

An 1897 festival prayer to Sarutahiko. Related Kōshin mantras and regional chants are kept as separate texts and traditions.

English meaning and source text

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English meaning

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.

Before Sarutahiko Ōkami, whose very name inspires awe,

I bow with care and respectfully speak.

Dwelling in Takamagahara,

the ancestral male and female deities called Kamurogi and Kamuromi gave their command.

They entrusted the august grandchild with the land of abundant reeds and ripening rice ears,

to govern it peacefully and tranquilly.

They led him from the heavenly rock seat, and the many layers of heavenly cloud

were parted by sacred power as he descended to earth.

Then you, great deity, welcomed him at the fork of the heavenly roads

and guided him to the peak of Kushifuru at Takachiho in Himuka.

You settled at Sanagata in Ise, where the divine wind blows, by the upper Isuzu River,

and awaited Amaterasu Ōmikami.

You swept away the deities who acted violently and caused harm,

protecting the emperor above

and protecting and blessing the people below.

Your honored work of showing the road and guiding us

has been revered from distant antiquity until today.

At sunset on this good day filled with life’s vitality,

we hang sacred fiber from a luxuriantly branching sakaki,

stretch a sacred rope, and reverently cleanse this small place of worship

as a sacred building.

Preparing pure sake, food, and many offerings,

we withdraw reverently into a sacred, tranquil place to serve through the night.

天の甕和 is interpreted in the context of withdrawing into a place for ritual. No specific architecture or implement is asserted.

Please receive this service gently

and sweep away calamities.

In accordance with your divine heart, toward the great, straight, and righteous way,

please invite and guide us.

May we accomplish great and vigorous deeds.

With reverence and words of praise, I make this prayer.

Source text and reading aid

Roman letters are provided for every line of this source text.

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.

掛巻(かけまく)も畏(かしこ)き猿田彦大神(さるたひこのおほかみ)の大前(おほまへ)を

kakemakumo kashikoki sarutahikonoohokamino ohomahewo

慎(つつし)み拝(をろが)み畏(かしこ)み畏(かしこ)みも白(まを)さく

tsutsushimi worogami kashikomi kashikomimo mawosaku

高天原(たかまのはら)に神留坐(かむづまります)

takamanoharani kamuzumarimasu

皇睦(すめむつ)神漏伎(かむろぎ)神漏美(かむろみ)の命(みこと)以(もち)て

sumemutsu kamurogi kamuromino mikoto mochite

皇御孫命(すめみまのみこと)に豊葦原(とよあしはら)の水穂国(みづほのくに)を

sumemimanomikotoni toyoashiharano mizuhonokuniwo

安国(やすくに)と平(たひら)けく所知食(しろしめせ)と言依(ことよ)さし奉(まつ)りて

yasukunito tahirakeku shiroshimeseto kotoyosashi matsurite

天(あめ)の磐座(いはくら)を離(はな)ち天(あめ)の八重雲(やへぐも)を

ameno ihakurawo hanachi ameno yahegumowo

伊豆(いづ)の千別(ちわき)に千別(ちわき)て天降(あも)し奉(まつ)りし時(とき)

izuno chiwakini chiwakite amoshi matsurishi toki

天(あめ)の八衢(やちまた)に迎(むかへ)奉(まつ)りて

ameno yachimatani mukahe matsurite

日向(ひむか)の高千穂(たかちほ)の串触峯(くしふるたけ)に啓行(みちびき)奉(まつ)り給(たま)ひ

himukano takachihono kushifurutakeni michibiki matsuri tamahi

大神(おほかみ)は神風(かむかぜ)の伊勢(いせ)の狭長田(さながた)五十鈴(いすず)の川上(かはかみ)に鎮(しづま)り坐(ま)して

ohokamiha kamukazeno iseno sanagata isuzuno kahakamini shizumari mashite

天照大御神(あまてらすおほみかみ)を待受(まちうけ)給(たま)ひ

amaterasuohomikamiwo machiuke tamahi

諸々(もろもろ)の荒振(あらぶる)邪神(まがかみ)を拂却(はらひやり)て

moromorono araburu magakamiwo harahiyarite

上(かみ)は皇美麻命(すめみまのみこと)を斎(いは)ひ奉(まつ)り

kamiha sumemimanomikotowo ihahi matsuri

下(しも)は青人艸(あをひとくさ)を守恵(まもりめぐみ)て

shimoha awohitokusawo mamorimegumite

導(みちび)き誘(いざな)ひ給(たま)へる神功(みいさを)を

michibiki izanahi tamaheru miisawowo

万世(よろづよ)の今(いま)に至迄(いたるまで)仰(あふ)ぎ尊(たふと)み奉(まつ)るが故(ゆゑ)に

yorozuyono imani itarumade afugi tafutomi matsuruga yuweni

今日(けふ)の生日(いくひ)の足日(たるひ)の夕日(ゆふひ)の降與(くだち)に

kefuno ikuhino taruhino yufuhino kudachini

五百枝(いほえ)賢木(さかき)に木綿取垂(ゆふとりしで)

ihoe sakakini yufutorishide

神縄(しめなは)引延(ひきはへ)て是(これ)の小床(をどこ)を

shimenaha hikihahete koreno wodokowo

伊豆(いづ)の真屋(まや)と斎麻波利(ゆまはり)清(きよ)めて

izuno mayato yumahari kiyomete

由紀(ゆき)の御酒(みき)御饌(みけ)種々(くさぐさ)の物(もの)を貯(たくはへ)て

yukino miki mike kusagusano monowo takuhahete

天(あめ)の甕和(みかわ)に斎許母利(いみこもり)終夜(よもすがら)仕(つかへ)奉(まつ)らくを

ameno mikawani imikomori yomosugara tsukahe matsurakuwo

平(たひら)に安(やすら)に聞(きこ)し食(め)して

tahirani yasurani kikoshi meshite

諸々(もろもろ)の禍事(まがこと)を祓(はら)ひ給(たま)ひて

moromorono magakotowo harahi tamahite

惟神(かむながら)直(なほ)き正(ただ)しき大道(おほみち)に

kamunagara nahoki tadashiki ohomichini

誘(いざな)ひ導(みちび)き坐(ま)して

izanahi michibiki mashite

太(ふと)しき雄々(をを)しき功(いさを)を立(た)てしめ給(たま)へと

futoshiki wowoshiki isawowo tateshime tamaheto

畏(かしこ)み畏(かしこ)みも称辞(たたへごと)竟(をへ)奉(まつ)らくと白(まを)す

kashikomi kashikomimo tatahegoto wohe matsurakuto mawosu

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.

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