法苑珠林 25.10

25.10

第四論云。大目揵連所以稱神足第一者。世尊正說。三災流行人民大飢。欲反大地取地下肥以供民命。佛止不聽。恐損眾生。又欲一手執眾生一手反地。佛復不許。故知神足第一也。

Fourth, the treatise states: The reason why Mahāmaudgalyāyana is called foremost in supernatural powers is that while the World-Honoured One was expounding the teaching, the three calamities were rampant and the people suffered from severe famine. He wished to overturn the great earth to extract the richness beneath it to sustain the lives of the people, but the Buddha stopped him and did not permit it, fearing harm to living beings. He also wished to hold living beings in one hand and overturn the earth with the other, but the Buddha again did not permit it. Thus it is known he is foremost in supernatural powers.