Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Having last month considered the Buddha’s vow to help the teacher of the Dharma, we repeat in gāthās the lesson of a man on a plateau digging for water.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
If you wish to give up all indolence,
Hear this sūtra!
It is difficult to hear this sūtra.
Few receive it by faith.A man on a plateau, feeling thirsty,
Dug a hole in order to get water.
As long as he saw the dug-out lumps of earth were dry,
He knew that water was still far off.
When he found the earth wet and muddy,
He was convinced that water was near.In the same manner, Medicine-King, know this!
Those who do not hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Are far from the wisdom of the Buddha.