A woman who takes this efficacious medicine will be surrounded and protected by these four great Bodhisattvas at all times. When she rises to her feet, so too will the Bodhisattvas, and when she walks along the road, they will also do the same. She and they will be as inseparable as a body and its shadow, as fish and water, as a voice and its echo, or as the moon and its light. Should these four great bodhisattvas desert the woman who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they would incur the wrath of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanation Buddhas of the ten directions. You may be certain that their offence will be greater than even that of Devdatta, their falsehood more terrible than Kokalika's. How reassuring, how encouraging! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
[Four bodhisattvas: Various kinds of four bodhisattvas appear in Buddhism. The leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth described in the "Emerging from the Earth" chapter of the Lotus Sutra are Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, Pure Practices, and Firmly Established Practices.]
[Devadatta: A cousin of Shakyamuni who at one time followed him but later became his enemy. In his arrogance, he sought to kill Buddha and unsurp his position. He encouraged dissension within the Buddhist Order and made several attempts on the Buddha's life. He is said to have fallen into hell alive. The "Devadatta" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, however, predicts his future enlightenment.]
[Kokalika: A member of the Shakya tribe and an enemy of Shakyamuni. He was a monk, one of the chief partisans of Devadatta. Knowing the Buddha's might, he was, at first reluctant to join Devadatta's plot against him, but falling under Devadatta's influence, he slandered the Buddha's disciples Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, and is said to have fallen into the hell alive.]
Source: GOSHO("On Offering Prayers to the Mandala of the Mystic Law", WND-1, Pg. No. 415)
Background: Neither the date nor the recipient of this letter is known. But it is generally supposed that the letter was given to the lay nun Sennichi, the wife of Abutsu-bo, in the tenth year of Bun'ei. The "Mystic Law" in the title indicates both the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo and the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The mandala of the Mystic Law refers to the Gohonzon - the object of devotion inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo down its center. The Daishonin also mentions elsewhere that the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra should be made into an object of devotion.
