There once lived a king called the Great King Aśoka, who ruled one-quarter of the world. Accompanied by the Dragon King, King Aśoka could cause it to rain as he wished, and he was also attended to by demons. An evil king at first, King Aśoka later converted to Buddhism, gave alms to Buddhist priests as many as 60,000 each day, and built stone pagodas, 84,000 in number.

When we look at the previous life of this Great King, we note that during the Buddha’s lifetime there were two boys named Tokushō and Mushō. One day, when the Buddha was passing by, the two made a “rice cake” from mud, and offered it to Him. Due to this sincere offering to the Buddha, one of the two was reborn as the Great King Aśoka 200 years later.

The Buddha is great, but compared to the Lotus Sūtra He is like the light of a firefly, in front of the sun and moon. When compared in terms of height, the Buddha is like the earth while the Lotus Sūtra reaches the heavens. If making offerings to the Buddha has such great merit, how much more so does one gain by making offerings to the Lotus Sūtra.

The two boys received such a wonderful benefit from the Buddha despite their seemingly insignificant acts. How much more benefit will you receive for your various offerings to the Lotus Sūtra! Moreover, when Tokushō and Mushō made their offerings to the Buddha, it was not during a time of famine while we are now suffering from famine. Hence your gifts at this time are even more precious than the gifts of the two small boys.

From this point of view, how can Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and the ten female rākṣasa demons neglect to protect you who made offerings to the Lotus Sūtra?

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 125-126