Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs.

The chapter opens with Medicine-King Bodhisattva asking the Buddha, “How many merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”

The Buddha said to him:

“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”

“Very many, World-Honored One!” The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”

Following this Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, and World-Holding Heavenly-King each offer dharanis spells for the protection of teacher of the Dharma.

Then we are introduced to the 10 raksasas daughters:

  1. Lamba
  2. Vilamba
  3. Crooked-Teeth
  4. Flower-Teeth
  5. Black-Teeth
  6. Many-Hairs
  7. Insatiable
  8. Necklace-Holding
  9. Kunti
  10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings

And their mother.  Together they vow:

“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”

Their vow of protection warns:

Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta, who split the Sarngha.

In response, the Buddha promises the demon daughters and their mother:

“Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sutra itself, and makes to a copy of this sutra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of varsika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [raksasis] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.”