[T]he Lotus Sutra was originally called Saddharma-pundarika-sutra in Sanskrit. Saddharma means the “wonderful Dharma,” and pundarika is rendered “lotus flower” by Kumarajiva. Sad means “righteousness” or “truth.” Dharma, the essential idea of Buddhism in various contexts, means in this case, “the law,” “the truth,” or “the teaching of the truth.” Therefore, literally Saddharma means “righteous teaching” or “righteous truth.”

You may wonder why we dare call this particular teaching “righteous” or “true” when we know that every single teaching of the Buddha is true. What does “righteous truth” imply? Because the Lotus Sutra reveals to us the principal and deepest teachings of the Buddha, people have tried to name it by expressing its special importance. Instead of saying, “the true truth,” Kumarajiva used the word myo, a word with an esoteric quality in Chinese meaning “noble richness” or “marvelous.” Therefore, he translated Saddharma as the “wonderful” or “marvelous” Dharma. Pundarika means “the lotus flower,” particularly the white lotus flower. We compare something wonderful and excellent with the lotus flower. So Saddharmapundarika represents “the righteous (wonderful) Dharma as marvelous as lotus flowers.” At the same time, the lotus flower symbolizes the most important Bodhisattva practices in Mahayana Buddhism. In Chapter Fifteen, “Bodhisattvas from Underground,” it says:

The Buddha’s children have studied the way of Bodhisattvas well. They are no more defiled by worldliness just as a lotus flower is not defiled by water.

The lovely lotus flower grows out of muddy water and is not defiled by it. In the same way, Bodhisattvas, persons who put the Buddha’s teachings into practice, can live in the midst of a world defiled by vice and corruption, and yet not be contaminated by it. They can teach and awaken other people while keeping their own minds pure. They can save others, however, only when they live with them here in this evil world.