The Nirvāṇa Sūtra was preached to extend awakening to those who had been left out during the exposition of the Lotus Sūtra and failed to benefit from it. These included the 5,000 people who left the Buddha in the Chapter 2, those who were left on the ground when the ceremony was lifted up in the air in Chapter 11, “Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures,” and those who were skeptical about both this newly revealed truth, the eternity of Buddha’s life, and disregarding the provisional Buddhist teachings and practices.

The above is why the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is also called the teaching of supporting the Buddhist precepts and expounding the eternity of buddhahood, in Japanese furitsu-danjō-kyō, or teaching of gleaning, in Japanese kunjū-kyō. In contrast the Lotus Sūtra is called the teaching of great gathering, in Japanese daishu-kyō.

Also another characteristic of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is to “reiterate and remove,” in Japanese tsuisetsu-tsuimin. This means reiterating all sūtras for those who had missed their opportunities, in Japanese tsuisetsu, and removing teachings other than the Lotus Sūtra that do not lead to buddhahood, in Japanese tsuimin. However, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is not regarded as a pure One Vehicle teaching like the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, in spite of being classified in the same period, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is ranked lower than the Lotus Sūtra.