Nichiren … read the story of Sadāparibhūta [Never-Despising Bodhisattva] in a way that reflected — and perhaps inspired — his understanding of his own ordeals as a form of redemptive suffering. The prose portion of the “Sadāparibhūta” chapter says that those who mocked the bodhisattva suffered for a thousand eons in the Avici hell, but after expiating this offense, they were again able to meet him and were led by him to attain “the highest, complete enlightenment.” The verse section, however, suggests that the bodhisattva himself had “expiated his past errors” by patiently bearing the insults and mistreatment he received in the course of his practice. Nichiren focused on this second reading, encouraging his followers, and himself as well, by explaining that hardship encountered for the Lotus Sūtra’s sake would eradicate one’s past slanders against the dharma. “The bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta was not reviled and disparaged, and assailed with sticks and stones, for no reason,” Nichiren suggested. “It would appear that he had probably slandered the true dharma in the past. The phrase ‘having expiated his past errors’ seems to mean that because he met persecution, he was able to eradicate his sins from prior lifetimes.”