Today, burn not the fields of Musashino.
Both spouse and I lie hidden in the grasses of spring.
Someone has expressed the meaning of this poem in this way:
As the white clouds come together,
The morning glories already fade.
There is something I have thought about only to myself of which I should advise you. And, while I know that it is only my own questionable and humble opinion, I feel that this is the right moment, and so will write down that which I perceive.
Since you are a master in the martial arts without equal in past or present, you are most resplendent in rank, stipend and reputation. Waking or sleeping, you should not forget this great boon and in order to return this favor by day and by night, you should think only of fulfilling your loyalty.
Total loyalty is first in making your mind correct, disciplining your body, not splitting your thoughts concerning your lord by even a hairsbreadth, and in neither resenting nor blaming others. Do not be neglectful of your daily work. At home, be filial, let nothing indecent occur between husband and wife, be correct in formality, do not love mistresses, sever yourself from the path of sensuality, be austere as a parent, and act according to the Way. In employing underlings, do not make distinctions on the basis of personal feelings. Employ men who are good and bind them to you, reflect on your own deficiencies, conduct the government of your province correctly, and put men who are not good at a distance.
In this way, good men will advance daily, and those who are not will naturally be influenced when they see their lord loving the good. Thus they will leave off evil and turn toward the good themselves.
In this way, both lord and retainer, upper and lower, will be good men, and when personal desire becomes thin and pride is abandoned, the province’s wealth will be plenty, the people will be well ruled, children will commune with their parents, and superior and menial will work together as hands and feet. The province should then become peaceful on its own. This is the beginning of loyalty.
Such an absolutely single-minded soldier would probably be your predilection in whatever situation should arise, even if you had the command of hundreds of thousands of men. When the whole mind of the Thousand-Armed Kannon is correct, each of the thousand arms will be of use; in the same way, if the mind of your martial art is correct, the function of your whole mind will be free, and even a thousand foes would be at the mercy of your single sword. Is this not great loyalty?
Whether the mind is correct or not is indiscernible by other people. When any single thought arises, both good and evil are there. If one will think about the foundation of good and evil, and do good and refrain from evil, his mind will become correct of itself.
Knowing what is evil but not refraining from it is a sickness of one’s own desires. Whether it be from a love of sensuality or self-indulgence, it is a matter of the mind desiring something. Then, even if a good man were present, his good would not be put to use if it didn’t strike one’s fancy. To be pleased once with an ignorant man, to take a liking to him, and to give him an appointment while not using the good man that is there, is the same as having no good men at all.
Even if one employed several thousand men, there is unlikely to be one who would stand in good stead to his lord in a time of emergency. As for the ignorant young evil men who were once so attractive, their hearts not being correct from the beginning, they would on no account be able to think of sacrificing their own lives when facing a real situation. I have never once heard, even in times past, of men whose minds were not correct standing in good stead to their lords.
The appearance that such a thing may happen when your lordship chooses apprentices is a bitter shame indeed.
This is something that nobody knows: from some offbeat inclination, one may be pulled along into bad habits and fall into evil. While you may think that no one knows about these faults, as “there is nothing as clear as that which is dimly seen,” if they are known in your own mind, they will also be known by heaven, earth, the gods, and the people. If such is the case, is the protection of the province not truly in danger? You should recognize this as great disloyalty.
For example, no matter how ardently you yourself proffer loyalty to your lord, if the people in your clan are not in harmony and the population of Yagyū Valley turn their backs on you, everything you do will come to naught.
It is said that, in all things, if you would know a man’s good and evil points, you should know the retainers and underlings he loves and employs, and the friends with whom he mixes intimately. If the lord is not correct, none of his retainers and friends will be correct. If this is the case, he will be despised by all and the neighboring provinces will hold him in contempt. But if the lord and his retainers are good, they will be regarded fondly by all.
It is said that a good man is regarded as a jewel by the province. You should make this your own personal experience.
When in a place where people recognize you, if you will quickly avoid unrighteousness, put characterless people at a distance, and love the wise, the provincial government will become all the more correct and you will be the best of all loyal retainers.
Above all, concerning your honored son’s behavior, it is going at things backwards to attack a child’s wrongdoings if the parent himself is incorrect. If you will first make your own conduct correct and then voice your opinions, not only will he naturally correct himself, but his younger brother, Master Naizen, will learn from his conduct and become correct as well. Thus will father and sons become good men. This would be a happy outcome.
It is said that one takes men on or casts them off according to right-mindedness. At this time, as you are a favored retainer, it is absolutely unthinkable that bribes may be handsomely received from all the provincial lords, or that right-mindedness may be forgotten because of avarice.
That you enjoy ranbu, that you are prideful of your own ability in Nō and that you push yourself in among the provincial lords showing off this ability, I earnestly believe to be a sickness.
Shouldn’t you reflect over and over again on the facts that the emperor’s recitation is given like Sarugaku, and that the provincial daimyo first in courtesy are the ones most often brought before the shogun?
In the song it says:
It is the very mind itself
that leads the mind astray;
of the mind,
do not be mindless.