This chapter opens with Sakyamuni praising the four great “hearers” who told the parable of the rich man and his poor son. By their story, they demonstrated that they understood what the Buddha had been teaching. The Buddha said:

Excellent, excellent! You spoke very well about my true merits. They are just as you said. They are innumerable, asamkhya. You could not describe them all even if you tried for many hundreds of millions of eons. I am the King of the Law. I expound all teachings expediently by my wisdom in order to lead all living beings to the stage of knowing all things. I know how far a living being can be led by a particular teaching, and what each living being has deep in his mind (in his subconscious). Nothing hinders me from knowing all this. I know all things clearly, and show my knowledge of all things to all living beings (p. 105).

Sakyamuni then told them the following simile, which is called the “Simile of Herbs” or the “Three Blades of Grass and the Two Trees.”