Thereupon I, Nichiren, loudly declare facing heaven:
As we look at the first chapter on the “Introductory” of the Lotus Sūtra, we see that the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Dragon King, asura, various gods of the realms of desire and of form (nikai hachiban) and heavenly beings from numerous worlds gathered in the assembly. When they heard that the Lotus Sūtra was supreme of all the sūtras preached in the past, being preached at present and will be preached in the future, they felt enthusiastic about protecting this sūtra just as Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains sacrificed his own body for the dharma and Medicine King Bodhisattva burnt his elbow to offer light to the Buddha. Then Lord Śākyamuni Buddha remonstrated them in front of the Buddha of Many Treasures and various Buddhas from the worlds throughout the universe: “You should now swear to protect the Lotus Sūtra.” Encouraged by the Buddha’s advice like sailing in the wind, listeners in the three meetings at two places all swore in unison: “We will protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra according to the words of the Buddha,” did they not? What happened to this vow?
Having heard of this oath at their presence, the Buddha of Many Treasures and numerous Buddhas from the worlds throughout the universe felt assured and returned to their respective worlds. It has been many years since Śākyamuni Buddha passed away. Therefore, it could be that although a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra exists today in the Latter Age of Degeneration in a remote land of Japan, such gods as the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon have forgotten their oath before the Buddha and do not protect him. To me, a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration, it is merely a temporary grief. In my numerous lives since the remote past, I have often been a pheasant in front of a hawk, a frog before a snake, a rat before a cat, a monkey before a dog. As this world is as transient as a dream, I can reconcile myself to have been fooled by Buddhas, bodhisattvas and gods.
The saddest thing to me, however, is for such heavenly beings as the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon and the Four Heavenly Kings to use up the good fortune of heaven and fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering for their sin of not having protected a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra who chants “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” and encounters persecution. As flowers are blown away by a storm, as it rains from the sky to the ground, and as it is stated in the sutra: “He will go to the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death,” they will all go to hell. It is indeed a pity.
Even if they, supported by numerous Buddhas in all the worlds throughout the universe in the past, present and future, insist that they have no knowledge of such an oath made before the Buddha, I, Nichiren, will be a strong enemy of them. Unless the Buddha is impartial, I am sure that I will send the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon and the Four Heavenly Kings to the Hell of Incessant Suffering. If they are afraid of my eye and mouth, they had better carry out the oath before the Buddha immediately.
Shinkoku-ō Gosho, Sovereigns of Our Divine Land, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 184-185