Japanese Buddhist Proverbs
171
12.—Gaki mo ninzu.
Even gaki (prêtas) can make a crowd.[1]
13.—Gaki no mé ni midzu miézu.
To the eyes of gaki water is viewless.[2]
14.—Goshō wa daiji.
The future life is the all-important thing.[3]
15.—Gun-mō no tai-zō wo saguru ga gotoshi.
Like a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant.[4]
- ↑ Literally: “Even gaki are a multitude (or, ‘population’).” This is a popular saying used in a variety of ways. The ordinary meaning is to the effect that no matter how poor or miserable the individuals composing a multitude, they collectively represent a respectable force. Jocosely the saying is sometimes used of a crowd of wretched or tired-looking people,—sometimes of an assembly of weak boys desiring to make some demonstration,—sometimes of a miserable-looking company of soldiers.—Among the lowest classes of the people it is not uncommon to call a deformed or greedy person a “gaki.”
- ↑ Some authorities state that those prêtas who suffer especially from thirst, as a consequence of faults committed in former lives, are unable to see water.—This proverb is used in speaking of persons too stupid or vicious to perceive a moral truth.
- ↑ The common people often use the curious expression “gosho-daiji” as an equivalent for “extremely important.”
- ↑ Said of those who ignorantly criticise the doctrines of
