It seems that the "gohyaku jin-tengo" was quoted only as a metaphor in the Lotus Sutra; however, Nichiren (founder of the Nichiren sect) gave the meaning of kaigon-ken-non (discarding the assumption that Shakyamuni attained enlightenment for the first time in India and revealing that he originally gained enlightenment in the immensely distant past) to the word "gohyaku jin-tengo" by saying things like "for as long as gohyaku jin-tengo, this land has been ruled by Buddha;" thus it came to be interpreted as the time of actual enlightenment of Buddha.
この五百塵点劫は、法華経の経文を読む限りでは、たとえ話として引用しているだけであるが、日蓮は釈迦御所領御書などで、「過去五百塵点劫より、このかた、この娑婆世界は釈迦菩薩の御進退の国土なり」などと、五百塵点劫の言葉に開近顕遠の意味を持たせたことから、釈尊が本当に覚った時と解釈されるようになった。