Śākyamuni Buddha is praised for preaching the Lotus Sutra. Not only all of the creatures of this world and the gods in the heavens of this world, but even all of the buddhas of all of the countless other worlds in every direction also praise and subordinate themselves to Śākyamuni Buddha. Especially by designating the buddhas of the ten directions as his representatives, he is given central importance in the entire cosmos.

The Chinese term here rendered as “representatives,” but which might literally be rendered as “body parts,” has been interpreted and translated in various ways. It may be a reflection of the belief that one of a buddha’s supernatural powers is the ability to replicate himself. Exactly what is meant in the Lotus Sutra by the term is not clear. But one thing is very clear — all of these various buddhas, throughout the many, many worlds, are subordinate to Śākyamuni Buddha. Just how they are subordinate is not explained, no doubt because it is not important. What is important, given the priorities of the sutra, is the cosmic significance and superiority of Śākyamuni Buddha. Yet, at the same time, the reality or importance of those other buddhas is in no way denied.
A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Gene Reeves, The Lotus Sutra as Radically World-affirming, Page 181