In Nichiren’s teaching, it is the bodhisattvas of the earth who play the lead roles in spreading the Lotus Sūtra in the Final Dharma age. But he recognized Samantabhadra [Universal Sage] as a protector and, in one letter written from exile to Sado Island, referred to him as manifesting through two of his most supportive lay followers, the samurai Shinjō Kingo and his wife, Nichigen-nyo: “You were both born of ordinary status, and you live in Kamakura [the seat of Bakufu authority], yet you trust in the Lotus Sūtra without fearing others’ gaze and without begrudging your lives. This is no ordinary matter… . Surely this is what the Lotus Sūtra means where it says that those living in Jambudvipa who believe in this sūtra do so by the power of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.”

As suggested in the long passage from Nichiren cited above, Samantabadhra is often depicted iconographically as Śākyamuni Buddha’s attendant on the right, with Mañjuśrī attending him on the left. Where Mañjuśrī represents wisdom and realization, Samantabhadra represents teaching and practice. The Lotus Sūtra begins with Mañjuśrī playing a role in preparing the assembly to receive Śākyamuni’s preaching of the sūtra just before his final nirvāṇa; it concludes with Samantabadhra vowing to protect those who uphold the sūtra after he has departed. On Nichiren’s mandala, the names of Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra appear as representatives of bodhisattvas from other worlds and of the trace teaching.