Legend has it that Kobo Daishi sought to translate from Sanskrit to Japanese four lines of the Nirvana-sutra – the essence of Buddhist doctrine. The stanza in the original Sutra (rendered in English) is as follows:

All earthly things pass away:
This is the law of all existence.
Going beyond this law of extinction,
We are in the bliss of Nirvana alone.

The outstanding achievement of Kobo Daishi’s putative translation is that it uses every one of the forty-seven basic Japanese syllables only once. It is therefore a minimal kana pangram. But I don’t believe for a minute that Kobo Daishi was actually responsible for this linguistic acrobatics. Firstly, if he really did accomplish everything that he is credited with, there would be little left in Japanese culture for other historical figures to have contributed; obviously much of what he is said to have done must belong to them. Secondly, there is considerable scholarly doubt that the hiragana writing system as we know it existed in his day.

Regardless of its provenance, Kobo Daishi’s iroha, as the translation is called, goes as follows:

i-ro ha ni-ho-he-to chi-ri-nu-ru wo
wa-ka yo ta-re so tsu-ne na-ra-mu
u-wi no o-ku-ya-ma ke-fu ko-e-te
a-sa-ki yu-me mi-shi we-hi mo se-su

Students of modern Japanese may object that n is missing and that there are no syllables wi and we. This is now true. Written Japanese has changed. Meiji era reforms led to the introduction of n and made wi and we obsolete, replacing them with i and e respectively.

The original iroha – with wi and we – is now used chiefly as a mnemonic for children and as a sequence for locating elements in an arrangement, much as the letters A, B, C… are often used to identify, for example, rows of theatre seats.

To be understood today, it is better to write the iroha as:

iro wa nioedo chirinuru o
waga yo tare zo tsune naran
ui no okuyama kyou koete
asaki yume miji ei mo sezu

English re-translations of the iroha are found everywhere. Individually, these translations all leave something to be desired. Nevertheless, I think a reasonable understanding of the mood and intent of the iroha can best be distilled by sampling several English versions together. A selection follows:

Brightly coloured though the blossoms be, all are doomed to scatter,
So in this world of ours, who will last forever?
Today, having crossed the mountain recesses of Samskrita,
I shall be free of floating dreams,
Nor shall I be fuddled (by the pleasures of this world).

Ivan Morris

Though gay in hue, the blossoms flutter down also,
Who then in this world of ours may continue forever?
Crossing today the uttermost limits of phenomenal existence,
I shall no more see fleeting dreams,
Neither be any longer intoxicated.

Basil Hall Chamberlain

Colours are fragrant, but they fade away.
In this world of ours none lasts forever.
Today cross the high mountain of life’s illusions,
And there will be no more shallow dreaming,
No more drunkenness.

Andrew Nathaniel Nelson

Leaves and blossoms in all their brilliance fall,
Who among us will tarry in this world?
We shall cross the deepest mountains of this Samsava, the world of illusion, and dream no more shallow dreams, nor yield to drunkenness.

Peregrine Hodson

Flowers, although fragrant, will be left behind.
Who in this world will remain immortal?
Today, we pass the high mountain of illusions,
There will be no more empty dreaming,
And no more drunkenness.

Oliver Statler

The blooms are fragrant, but alas! They fall.
Who in this world can remain forever?
Crossing this day the mountains of transient existence,
We see no more shallow dreams nor get drunk on them.

Trevor Leggett

And finally:

All is transitory in this fleeting world.
Let me escape from its illusions and vanities.

Oliver Statler