Mikagura-uta

The Mikagura-uta (みかぐらうた, The Songs for the Service) is one of the three Tenrikyo scriptures, along with the Ofudesaki and the Osashizu. It was composed by the foundress of Tenrikyo, Miki Nakayama, from 1866 to 1875, and revised to its current version in 1882.

The translations currently used here are from the most recent edition published by Tenrikyo Church Headquarters, unless otherwise noted.

• あしきをはらうてたすけたまへ
  てんりわうのみこと
  • Sweeping away evils, please save us,
    Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto.
  • Mikagura-uta Section 1.

• ちよとはなし　かみのいふこときいてくれ
  あしきのことはいはんでな
  このよのぢいとてんとをかたどりて
  ふうふをこしらへきたるでな
  これハこのよのはじめだし
  なむてんりわうのみこと
  • Just a word: Listen to what God says.
    I never tell you anything wrong.
    Representing heaven and earth
    I have created husband and wife.
    This is the beginning of the world. Namu Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto.
  • Mikagura-uta Section 2.

• あしきをはらうてたすけせきこむ
  いちれつすましてかんろだい
  • Sweeping away evils, hasten to save us.
    All humankind equally purified, the Kanrodai.
  • Mikagura-uta Section 3.

• 八ツ　やしきハかみのでんぢやで　まいたるたねハみなはへる
  九ツ　こゝハこのよのでんぢなら　わしもしつかりたねをまこ
  十ド　このたびいちれつに　ようこそたねをまきにきた
  たねをまいたるそのかたハ　こえをおかずにつくりとり
  • Eighth, As this Residence is the field of God, every seed sown here will sprout.
    Ninth, Since this is the field of this world, I, too, will sow the seed devotedly.
    Finally, This time, I am glad to see that all of you equally have come here to sow the seed;
    those who have sown the seed, shall reap a rich harvest without fertilizing.
  • Mikagura-uta VII:8–10.

• 八ツ　やまひはつらいものなれど　もとをしりたるものハない
  九ツ　このたびまでハいちれつに　やまひのもとハしれなんだ
  十ド　このたびあらはれた　やまひのもとハこゝろから
  • Eighth, Though illness is so trying, no one has ever known its origin.
    Ninth, Until this time all of you equally have been ignorant of the origin of illness.
    Finally, This time, it has been revealed. The origin of illness lies in your own mind.
  • Mikagura-uta X:8–10.

• The Mikagura-uta cannot be forgotten, even for one single day, by a follower of Tenrikyo. This song which one is taught when first entering the Tenrikyo faith, which throughout life one will repeat morning and night, and whenever occasion suggests, with deep religious fervor and experience of divine guidance, is a spiritual fountainhead for us who are followers of this faith; and to us its role should be comparable to that of bread, the staple food of Western diet.
  • p. 1, in Fukaya, Tadamasa 深谷忠政 (1978). A Commentary on the Mikagura-uta, The Songs for the Tsutome (Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department, Trans.). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department. (Japanese title: みかぐらうた講義)

• We, the members of Tenrikyo, sing the Mikagura-uta, and unite in dedicating ourselves to the task of constructing a world of yokigurashi. We may say that the Mikagura-uta is our marching song as we march our way to the world of the Kanrodai.
  Our faith requires at all times that we look to the future, and, herein, I believe, we find a grand feature of our religion.
  The Mikagura-uta takes its illustrations from a historical fact, but its message regarding the Divine Will needs to be applied in the present and in the future. We may claim to understand the true meaning of the Mikagura-uta, only when we have learned to strive in accordance with this message.
  • p. 160, in Fukaya, Tadamasa 深谷忠政 (1978). A Commentary on the Mikagura-uta, The Songs for the Tsutome (Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department, Trans.). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department. (Japanese title: みかぐらうた講義)

• Tenrikyo
• Ofudesaki
• Osashizu
• Nakayama Miki

• Nakayama, M. (1999). Mikagura-uta (Tenrikyo Church Headquarters, Trans.). Tenri, Japan: Tenrikyo Church Headquarters. (Original work published 1888)

• "Tenrikyō" from World Religions & Spirituality Project