Suppose a man rejoices at hearing Myōhō Renge Kyō
Or at hearing even a gāthā of Myōhō Renge Kyō
In a congregation,
And expounds Myōhō Renge Kyō to a second person.The second person expounds Myōhō Renge Kyō to a third person.
In this way Myōhō Renge Kyō is heard by a fiftieth person.
Now I will tell you of the merits
Of the fiftieth person.Suppose there was a great almsgiver.
He continued giving alms
To innumerable living beings
For eighty years according to their wishes.Those living beings became old and decrepit.
Their hair became grey; their faces, wrinkled;
And their teeth, fewer and deformed.
Seeing this, he thought:
“I will teach them because they will die before long.
I will cause them to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.” …Hearing this teaching, they attained Arhatship,
And obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
And the eight emancipations.The superiority of the merits of the fiftieth person
Who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā of Myōhō Renge Kyō
To the merits of this [great almsgiver]
Cannot be explained by any parable or simile.
