Ānanda receives a particularly marvelous prediction, with a very long lifespan and a very long duration of his teaching. This causes some of the bodhisattvas in the audience to be disgruntled, wondering why this monk who is not even an arhat received a better prophecy than they had. The Buddha explains that he and Ānanda had aroused the aspiration for perfect enlightenment in the presence of the same buddha long ago. Ānanda had wanted to preserve the dharma that Śākyamuni would eventually teach. For this reason, he receives this special prophecy. Upon hearing the prophecy, Ānanda is miraculously able to remember the teachings of innumerable buddhas of the past.

This elevation of Ānanda is yet another weapon used by the Lotus Sūtra to assert its legitimacy. If Ānanda can remember the teachings of innumerable buddhas of the past, he is certainly able to remember the teachings of Śākyamuni, suggesting that it was indeed Ānanda who says, “Thus have I heard” at the beginning of the sūtra. In the story of the first council in which he recited the sūtras, Ananda is taken to task by certain senior monks for having encouraged the Buddha to establish the order of nuns, a move that not all (male) members of the saṃgha had approved of. In the centuries that followed, Ānanda would become a beloved figure in the tradition, especially honored by nuns. That he receives a special prophecy in the Lotus Sūtra suggests that the authors of the text not only wished to bring him aboard the great ship of the Mahāyāna (as they did with Śāriputra), but perhaps also that they had a particular affection for him.