139「すみきりしするどく光る御心は悪魔の巣くふすきとてもなし。」- 植芝盛平
Original Waka
すみきりし
植芝盛平 (Ueshiba, 1977)
するどく光る
御心は
悪魔の巣くふ
すきとてもなし
Translation
“Cleared through completely, completely sharply shining—sacred august heart—[for] akuma to make nests [in a] gap, there is absolutely none at all.” – Morihei Ueshiba
Waka Translation
Cleared through completely,
completely sharply shining,
on august heart-mind:
akuma’s own nest making,
gaps, definitely there are none.
Morihei Ueshiba
歴史的仮名遣い（語構成を明示）
澄み切りし（すみきりし）
鋭く光る（するどくひかる）
御心は（みこころは）
悪魔の巣くふ（あくまのすくう）
隙とてもなし（すきとてもなし）
植芝盛平
Bungo Romanization
sumikirishi
surudoku hikaru
mikokoro wa
akuma no sukū
suki totemo nashi
Ueshiba Morihei
Notes
1 The historical spelling 巣くふ corresponds to modern 巣くう; in romanization the long vowel is shown as sukū (cf. Frellesvig 2010; cf. Kubozono 2015).
Translation, Notes, Commentary, and Research by Latex G. N. R. Space-Coyote
Ueshiba, M. (2025). 植芝盛平道歌–139: Without gap for akuma to nest (L. G. N. R. Space-Coyote, Trans.; OpenAI ChatGPT-5 Pro, Ed.). Shugyokai.org. (Original work published 1977) https://shugyokai.org/xo92
すみ（すみ; sumi）— 鋭く = 形容詞「鋭し」連用形 “keenly, sharply”.
すみきりし / 澄み切りし（sumikirishi）— “cleared through completely”; evokes misogi (purificatory practice) and harai in Shintō, where clarity / purity enables proper resonance with the divine order; purity of kokoro is prerequisite for right action (Breen & Teeuwen, 2001; Hardacre, 2017); 澄み切る（四段）連用形「澄み切り」＋ 過去助動詞「き」連体形「し」 → “(having) become completely clear / purified”.
光る（ひかる; hikaru）— 動詞「光る」（四段）終止形/連体形 “(to) shine”.
澄み切りしするどく光る（すみきりしするどくひかる; sumikirishi surudoku hikaru）— “completely purified, keenly shining; imagery echoes purification practices (harae, misogi) that “clarify” the heart so it reflects light like a mirror (cf. Breen & Teeuwen, 2001; cf. Hardacre, 2017).
御（み; mi） — honorific prefix; in historical grammar it functions as a bound morpheme marking reverence toward the referent. NINJAL’s (2017) historical corpus treats ミ（御） as a prefixal element with numerous sacred exemplars (御子, 御言, 御手洗, etc.); indexes sacred dignity. In Shintō vocabulary mi‑ marks kami and imperial referents (mi‑koto, mi‑tama), a usage Kokugakuin’s (n.d.) Encyclopedia of Shintō treats as an honorific title/prefix for divine persons and attributes. Reading 御姿 as みすがた thus harmonizes with Ueshiba’s Shintō / Ōmoto‑inflected diction, where the cosmos itself is treated as theophany.1
御心（みこころ; mikokoro） — “august heart / divine mind.; In Shinto-inflected discourse (and in Ueshiba’s writings), it signals the heart aligned with the kami and the cosmic order—akin to ideals of purity (kiyome) and clarity (seimei; cf. Hardacre, 2017); 御心 = 尊敬語接頭「御」＋名詞「心」 “august / divine heart, mind (aligned with the kami)”.
は（wa） — 係助詞 topic marker.
悪魔（あくま; akuma）— “demons / baleful spirits”; the translation keeps akuma here.
の（no）— 格助詞 genitive.
巣くふ（すく; sukū）— 動詞「巣くう」（＝「巣食う」）の歴史的仮名遣（終止形） “to make one’s nest (to dwell)”.
悪魔の巣くふ（あくまのすく; akuma no sukū）— “for demons to nest”; beyond a Christian “devil,” akuma often marks malevolent or disordered forces; the purified heart leaves them no foothold.
隙（すき; suki） — “gap, opening, suki (in budō: vulnerability)”; core budō idea meaning “opening / gap,” a lapse that invites attack; the poem’s ethics is martial and spiritual: if the heart is completely purified and keenly radiant, no suki remains for “demons”—i.e., delusions/evil impulses—“to nest” (cf. Draeger, 1973).
とて（tote）— 引用の格助詞「と」＋接続助詞「て」（＝「…と言って／と思って／たとえ…でも」）の古用法 → concessive / quotative frame “even if one says ‘there is’ / even supposing” (DigitalIO, n.d.; Vovin, 2003).
も（mo）— 係助詞（強意）; 係助詞 (kakari-joshi), or binding/focus particle; adds a degree of emphasis, often highlighting an unexpected or extreme case.; combines with tote (see below); on its own, it is a particle meaning “also”, “too”, as well; replaces a subject marker が (ga), topic marker は (wa), and sometimes the object marker を (o).
とても（totemo）— while the existence of とて as a concessive quotative is correct, in the context of 隙とてもなし, it generally is read as the emphatic adverb とても to convey the strong meaning of “absolutely” etc.
なし（nashi）— 形容動詞（ク活用）終止形 “there is none; does not exist”.
Verbal morphology. 澄み切りし analyzes as ren’yōkei + past auxiliary き (連体形 し)—a hallmark of classical style used attributively to modify 御心.
Adverbial adjective. 鋭く (< 鋭し) uses the ‑ku adverbial, standard in bungo.
Historical kana. 巣くふ (modern 巣くう) and other rekishiteki kanazukai align with classical orthography while read with modern /‑u/; waka metrics gauge a‑ku‑ma no su‑ku‑u as 7 mora (cf. Frellesvig, 2010).
Particle sequence とて（も）. Classical quotative と + conjunctive て, often concessive (“even if one says / supposing”), suits 隙とてもなし “there is no opening whatsoever” (cf. Shirane, 2005). 隙だとてない keeps とて as a classical concessive / quotative frame (“even if one says / supposes there is an opening, there isn’t”). This implements: と = 格助詞『と』＋ て = 接続助詞『て』, with senses like “…と言って／と思って／たとえ…でも”. However, in the phrase suki totemo nashi, とても is used adverbially for emphatic negation, meaning ‘absolutely / in no way’ when preceding a negative predicate such as nashi.
Lexicon & honorifics: 御心 employs honorific 御‑ to elevate the heart aligned with the kami, a usage consistent with classical and Shintō discourse (cf. Miner et al., 1985).
Diction & imagery. “Clarity / light” and purity as moral‑spiritual qualities are longstanding waka topoi; here, mirror‑like brilliance functions ethically (no suki) and cosmologically (alignment with kami), a fusion of poetic and martial semantics that is entirely in keeping with premodern diction deployed in modern dōka (cf. Brower & Miner, 1961).
Religious frame. Ueshiba’s thought is well documented as shaped by Ōmoto and kotodama, where purification (harai/misogi) and the resonance of sound/heart align humans with cosmic order (kannagara). The poem’s “澄み切りし…御心” describes a heart purified to the point of radiant keenness, leaving no kegare or foothold for malevolent forces (“悪魔”; Greenhalgh, 2003; Pranin, 2002).
Shugyokai note. Apparently O’Sensei heard the same comments, and now looks out for kohai. Particles are omitted, in this one, yet implied.
解説; Commentary
この第139首は「すみきりし／するどく光る／御心は／悪魔の巣くふ／すきとてもなし」と置き、まずすきとてもなし（連用形＋過去助動詞「き」連体形）で「みこころ」がみそぎにより完全に清明となった既然相を示し、するどく／鋭く（形容詞「鋭し」の‑く用法）光るで鏡のような切れと照度を与えます。下句は悪魔の巣くふ（歴史的仮名：巣くふ＝現代「巣くう」）に隙（武道語の「スキ＝破綻・間隙」）を与えない、という倫理と技術の宣言。ことばの要点として、隙とてもなしのとてもは強意の副詞として「絶対に…ない」を作るのが本位（古用法のとて＝仮定譲歩も背景として説明）で、「清明にして鋭い御心」には、よこしまな力の入り込む余地が皆無だと締めています。
六つのプライマーで読む運転図はこうです。プライマーの第一原理〈武＝宇宙原理〉では、澄明と光が宇宙秩序（かんながら）に同調した「基音」となり、プライマーの第二原理〈人との合気〉ではスキを作らないことが相手を壊さず導く関係の入口になる。プライマーの第三原理〈心魂一如〉は声・息・身を同拍で束ねて心の濁り（入射面の曇り）をなくす芯、プライマーの第四原理〈和合美化〉は清明さそのものを美の規範にすること。プライマーの第五原理〈体＝道場、心＝修業者／修行者心／学び手〉は稽古を「澄み切らせ、鋭く光らせる」微細な反復（姿勢・呼吸・間）へ落とし、プライマーの第六原理〈「至愛」の源に順う〉はスキを埋める作法が、愛に根ざした護りとして働いているかを最上位で点検する秤になります。
直前の三首ともきれいに糸が通る。第136首は「玉の剣は世に出でて東天に光り放てり」と照らす武を顕現させ、第137首は「主の至愛の『ひびき』が大宇宙の御いとなみを生れ出でたる」と生成の動因を至愛に置き、第138首は「その至愛の心が大御空として世のいとなみの本となりぬる」と宇宙的基底を成就させました。そこへ 第139首は、光（第136首）と至愛（第137首）が「本」（第138首）となった場で、なお心を澄み切らせ鋭く保ち、「悪魔が巣くうスキ」を一切残さない稽古規範を言い切っています。実地では――（光を出す）→（愛にのせる）→（本に接地する）→（スキを塞ぐ）の順で、澄明の御心を日々の所作に落とし込む**ことがこのページの要になります。
口語要約のひとこと
「澄み切って鋭く光るこの御心には、悪魔が巣くうすきなんて、まったくない。」
References
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Brower, R. H., & Miner, E. (1961). Japanese court poetry. Stanford University Press.
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Appendix I: Change Modification Log
21 DEC 25 - Applied Phase V styling to waka.
07 DEC 25 - Cleaned up commentary (i.e., English quotes to Japanese quotes); back propagated Primer references to Japanese.
30 NOV 25 - Phase IV completion; changed title to preserve akuma, and avoid cultural and religious signified, indexed, and iconized objects of personified demons / devils instead opting for malevolent kami / spirit / forces; commentary added.
23 NOV 25 - Phase IV preparation.
19 OCT 25 - Phase III completion. This translation is critically translated in Partial Phase IV beta which includes (a) critical translation procedure (to be documented after Phase IV completion), (b) Kōgo translation(s), and (c) more precise citation deployment(s).
14 APR 20 - Initial notes transferred.