經律異相 14.49

14.49

The Buddha was dwelling in Śrāvastī. At that time, the monks gathered in one place and engaged in this debate: "Do the pillars of the Sudharmā lecture hall support the crossbeams or not?" Maudgalyāyana said: "They support the crossbeams." Another junior monk said: "They do not support them." Thereupon they dispatched a monk possessed of supernormal feet to go and look, and he returned saying that they did not support them. The monks said to Maudgalyāyana: "You did not know, so why did you say they supported them? You spoke falsely and untruthfully, and should be expelled and driven away." They then assembled the saṅgha. The Buddha, riding on supernormal feet, came through the air; knowing, he deliberately asked: "Monks, what are you doing?" They answered: "Maudgalyāyana, when [the pillars] did not support [the crossbeams], answered that they did support them. Since he spoke untruthfully, we wish to perform a saṅghakarma." The Buddha asked the junior monk: "How did you know they did not support them?" He answered: "Bhagavat, once I was sitting in meditation in the Sudharmā lecture hall." The Buddha said to Maudgalyāyana: "Why did you not look for yourself? You should verify the truth." Maudgalyāyana's mind was sincere, so he did not violate the precept (taken from the twenty-ninth fascicle of the Sengqi lü).