Read, reflect, pray
Sarutahiko festival prayer: Kōshin
猿田彦神祭・庚申祭
An 1897 festival prayer to Sarutahiko. Related Kōshin mantras and regional chants are kept as separate texts and traditions.
English meaning and source text
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.
掛巻も畏き猿田彦大神の大前を
kakemakumo kashikoki sarutahikonoohokamino ohomahewo
慎み拝み畏み畏みも白さく
tsutsushimi worogami kashikomi kashikomimo mawosaku
高天原に神留坐
takamanoharani kamuzumarimasu
皇睦神漏伎神漏美の命以て
sumemutsu kamurogi kamuromino mikoto mochite
皇御孫命に豊葦原の水穂国を
sumemimanomikotoni toyoashiharano mizuhonokuniwo
安国と平けく所知食と言依さし奉りて
yasukunito tahirakeku shiroshimeseto kotoyosashi matsurite
天の磐座を離ち天の八重雲を
ameno ihakurawo hanachi ameno yahegumowo
伊豆の千別に千別て天降し奉りし時
izuno chiwakini chiwakite amoshi matsurishi toki
天の八衢に迎奉りて
ameno yachimatani mukahe matsurite
日向の高千穂の串触峯に啓行奉り給ひ
himukano takachihono kushifurutakeni michibiki matsuri tamahi
大神は神風の伊勢の狭長田五十鈴の川上に鎮り坐して
ohokamiha kamukazeno iseno sanagata isuzuno kahakamini shizumari mashite
天照大御神を待受給ひ
amaterasuohomikamiwo machiuke tamahi
諸々の荒振邪神を拂却て
moromorono araburu magakamiwo harahiyarite
上は皇美麻命を斎ひ奉り
kamiha sumemimanomikotowo ihahi matsuri
下は青人艸を守恵て
shimoha awohitokusawo mamorimegumite
導き誘ひ給へる神功を
michibiki izanahi tamaheru miisawowo
万世の今に至迄仰ぎ尊み奉るが故に
yorozuyono imani itarumade afugi tafutomi matsuruga yuweni
今日の生日の足日の夕日の降與に
kefuno ikuhino taruhino yufuhino kudachini
五百枝賢木に木綿取垂
ihoe sakakini yufutorishide
神縄引延て是の小床を
shimenaha hikihahete koreno wodokowo
伊豆の真屋と斎麻波利清めて
izuno mayato yumahari kiyomete
由紀の御酒御饌種々の物を貯て
yukino miki mike kusagusano monowo takuhahete
天の甕和に斎許母利終夜仕奉らくを
ameno mikawani imikomori yomosugara tsukahe matsurakuwo
平に安に聞し食して
tahirani yasurani kikoshi meshite
諸々の禍事を祓ひ給ひて
moromorono magakotowo harahi tamahite
惟神直き正しき大道に
kamunagara nahoki tadashiki ohomichini
誘ひ導き坐して
izanahi michibiki mashite
太しき雄々しき功を立てしめ給へと
futoshiki wowoshiki isawowo tateshime tamaheto
畏み畏みも称辞竟奉らくと白す
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.