four-line verse ［四句偈］ ( shiku-ge): Also, four-phrase verse. A grouping of four phrases comprising a verse in Chinese translations of Buddhist sutras and treatises. A number of such four-line or four-phrase verses constitute a complete verse section. The Lotus Sutra mentions the great benefits to be gained by accepting and upholding a single four-line verse of the sutra. For example, the sutra’s “Medicine King” (twenty-third) chapter reads, “Even if a person were to fill the entire major world system with the seven kinds of treasures as an offering to the Buddha and the great bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas and arhats, the benefits gained by such a person cannot match those gained by accepting and upholding this Lotus Sutra, even just one four-line verse of it! The latter brings the most numerous blessings of all.” The “Dhāranī” (twenty-sixth) chapter reads, “If there are good men or good women who, with regard to this sutra, can accept and uphold even one four-line verse, if they read and recite it, understand the principle, and practice it as the sutra directs, the benefits will be very many.”