Sayonarahime's Song - Sayonarahime's Song

Japanese: さよひめのさうし - さよひめのそうし

Fairy tale story. Sayohime was the child of a wealthy man from Matsuura, Tsubosaka, Yamato Province, who prayed to the Hase Kannon Bodhisattva. After the man's death, she sold herself to a "konka" courtier in Adachi County, Mutsu Province, and traveled to Mutsu to perform a memorial service for her late father, where she was offered as a sacrifice to the giant serpent. The giant serpent, having cleared its past sins through the merits of the Devadatta chapter of the Lotus Sutra, carries the princess on its head and sends her back to Yamato Province. The princess is reunited with her blind mother, and with the power of the wish-granting jewel, her mother's eyes are restored, and she once again prospers as a wealthy man. The giant serpent's original form is the Kannon Bodhisattva of Tsubosaka, and Sayohime appears as Benzaiten of Chikubu Island.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

御伽（おとぎ）草子。さよひめは大和国壺坂の松浦（まつら）長者が長谷観音に祈ってもうけた申し子で，長者の死後，陸奥国安達の郡の“こんか”の大夫に身を売り，亡き父の供養をつとめて陸奥へ下り，いけにえとして大蛇に捧げられる。法華経提婆品の功徳で過去の罪障を晴らした大蛇は姫を頭に載せて大和国に送り届ける。姫は盲目となっていた母と再会し，如意宝珠の力で母の眼もいえ，再び長者として栄える。大蛇の本地は壺坂の観音，さよひめは竹生島の弁才天と現ずる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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