Letter to Shimoyama（3rd of 10th paragraph）
—————————-～（ continued from the previous section)～————————-
At that time, when I observed the mortal enemies of the Lotus Sutra and considered what is written in the sutra, I knew that if I spoke out as forcefully against them as I would against the enemies of my father and mother or my teacher, the enemies of the court and enemies of mine from past existences, then the common people of Japan would surely grow angry, the rulers would heed slanderous words concerning me, and I would be condemned to exile or perhaps even have my head cut off. At that time, I thought, we will see whether Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings will fulfill the oath they took in the presence of the Buddha. They vowed that the enemies of the votary of the Lotus Sutra would not escape punishment for even a moment. I would test them with my own person.
Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions who are emanations of Shakyamuni, have earnestly declared that they will share their lodging with the votary of the Lotus Sutra, will cover him with their robes, and will guard and protect him. I was determined to test whether these words were true or false so that I might increase my faith. Therefore I did not slacken my efforts. And just as I had expected, in the eighth year of Bun’ei [1271], on the twelfth day of the ninth month, though I was not guilty of the slightest fault, I was exiled to the province of Sado.
Ostensibly I was being banished to a distant region, but secretly it had been decided that I would have my head cut off. I had known all along that it would come to this, and therefore I said to my disciples: “What I have long desired will now come about, and the joy of it overwhelms me. It is difficult to be born in human form, and such form is easily destroyed. In existence after existence, for countless kalpas, I have lost my life for no significant reason, but I have never given it up for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Now, when my head is cut off, I will be following in the tracks of the Venerable Āryasimha, and will perform a deed that outshines those of T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō. I will join the line of twenty-five successors of the Buddha,62 to become the twenty-sixth. I will be carrying out practices surpassing those of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, so that Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions will be at a loss to know how to deal with me.”
Therefore I did not cease my warnings, but spoke out without restraint, describing the happenings of the past and what would occur in the future, reporting all this to Hei no Saemon. But I will not describe in detail the many things I told him.
———————————-～(to be continued to the next section)～————————
Notes
62. Here the Daishonin counts Shakyamuni Buddha among the successors; hence the total of twenty-five. Usually Shakyamuni is excluded so that there are only twenty-four (see Glossary under twenty-four successors).