The Japanese word for nectar (kanro), which means literally “sweet dew,” is used in the name of a sweet syrup in which fish or chestnuts are stewed (kanro-ni) and also in the name of a type of candy (kanro-ame). But originally it referred to a delicious sweet liquid that, according to an ancient Chinese legend, pours down from the heavens in response to a sovereign’s benevolent rule. In Chinese translations of Buddhist texts it is used to translate the Sanskrit amṛta, meaning “immortal” or “immortality.” But we do not know to what amṛta actually refers, for it is by no means clear whether it is simply an adjective meaning “immortal” or whether it is a noun signifying something precious, such as an elixir of immortality—and in the latter case it is not clear what sort of thing we should envisage.
In the Lotus Sutra, however, we find in chapter 25, “The All-Sidedness of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World,” the following passage: “Law of pity, thunder quivering, / Compassion wondrous as a great cloud, / Pouring spiritual rain like nectar, / Quenching the flames of distress!” Although the exact meaning may not be clear, one gets the feeling that the Lotus Sutra itself could be described as “spiritual rain like nectar.”
A number of other passages in the Lotus Sutra suggest that amṛta implies its teachings to be a wondrous sound emanating from the Buddha that is to be heeded. Or they suggest that the teachings are comparable to a beverage originating from the Buddha that is to be imbibed and its delicious flavor savored. One such passage is from chapter 7, “The Parable of the Magic City”: “World-honored One, roll the Law-wheel, / Beat the drum of the Law, sweet as dew, / Save the suffering living, / Reveal the nirvana-way!”
Two other such passages are in chapter 19, “The Merits of the Preacher”:
“He will obtain twelve hundred merits of the tongue. Whatever pleasant or unpleasant, sweet or not sweet, bitter or astringent things meet his tongue will become of the finest flavor, like celestial nectar; nothing will be unpleasant.”
“Pure is this man’s organ of tongue, / Never receiving ill flavors: / Whatsoever he eats, / All becomes as nectar.” Bearing these passages in mind, may we endeavor to savor to the full with our own tongues the nectar of the Lotus Sutra’s blessed teachings.
Atsushi Kanazawa is a professor emeritus in the Faculty of Buddhism at Komazawa University, Tokyo. He specializes in the Indian philosophy of language and the history of Indian philosophy and culture.
