Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered Maitreya’s plea for an explanation, we consider in gāthās Maitreya’s plea for an explanation.
Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
It is not long
Since you renounced the family of the Śākyas
And sat under the Bodhi-tree
Near Gaya.These sons of yours are innumerable.
They have practiced
The way to Buddhahood for a long time.
They have supernatural powers and the power of wisdom.They have studied the Way of Bodhisattvas well.
They are not defiled by worldliness
Just as the lotus-flower
Is not defiled by water.They sprang up from underground,
And are now standing before you respectfully.
This is difficult to understand.
How can we believe this?You attained enlightenment quite recently.
But you have done so many things.
Remove our doubts!
Explain all this as it is!