維摩經疏卷第三．第六 3.9

3.9

佛告目連者。目連是姓字。拘律陀父為無子因求拘律陀樹得生此兒。因以為名。依問疾經。目連翻為菜菽其父好食此物。故以為名。依部執論翻為胡豆。是王舍城輔相之子。先與舍利弗同事那若。心專求道而無所得。疑謂無法。那若臨終病臥微笑。二人請問。師何笑也。那若答曰。五念世人恩愛所縛。其南天竺國金地國王身死火殯。夫人戀憶投火而死。吾為是笑之。二人私記。那若死後有商人人從金地國來。二人訪問如那若。語二人便云。師定得道。但我非是法器。遂共立契。若有所得必相告語為要。後佛初出世。頞鞞比丘入城乞食。舍利弗見之進止異常知有勝師。舍利便問言。汝師是誰。頞鞞答言。是大沙門。舍利重問。汝大沙門。何所宣說。頞鞞答言。諸法因緣生是大沙門說。諸法因緣滅是大沙門說。舍利聞之豁然悟解。即於言下道證初果。迴至本處。目連聞之亦悟初果。二人各將二百五十弟子投佛出家並得羅漢。弟子之中神通第一。使不可廢故命之也。

Regarding "The Buddha addressed Maudgalyāyana": "Maudgalyāyana" is his clan name. His father, Kolita, having no son, prayed to a kolita tree and subsequently begot this child; hence he was named after it. According to the Sūtra of Inquiring After the Illness, Maudgalyāyana translates as "greens and pulses," because his father was fond of eating such things, and so he was named after them. According to the Samayabhedoparacanacakra, it translates as "broad bean." He was the son of a prime minister of Rājagṛha. Previously, together with Śāriputra, he served Sañjaya. With single-minded devotion they sought the Way, but attained nothing, and suspected that there was no teaching [to be found]. When Sañjaya was near death and lying ill, he smiled faintly. The two disciples asked: "Master, why do you smile?" Sañjaya replied: "I was mindful of the fact that worldly people are bound by affections. The king of the Golden Realm in South India has died and his body has been cremated; his queen, longing for him, has cast herself into the fire and died. It is at this that I smile." The two men privately noted this. After Sañjaya's death, a merchant arrived from the Golden Realm. When the two questioned him, it was just as Sañjaya had spoken. The two men then said: "Our master indeed attained the Way; it is only that we were not vessels for the Dharma." Thereupon they made a pact together: "If either attains anything, we must certainly inform the other." Later, when the Buddha first appeared in the world, the bhikṣu Aśvajit entered the city to beg for alms. Śāriputra saw his deportment was extraordinary and knew that he had an exceptional master. Śāriputra then asked: "Who is your master?" Aśvajit answered: "He is the Great Samaṇa." Śāriputra asked again: "What does your Great Samaṇa proclaim?" Aśvajit answered: "'All dharmas arise from causes and conditions' is what the Great Samaṇa proclaims; 'All dharmas cease through causes and conditions' is what the Great Samaṇa proclaims." Hearing this, Śāriputra had an open awakening, and right upon those words he attained the first fruit of the path. Returning to their dwelling, Maudgalyāyana heard of it and likewise awakened to the first fruit. The two each led two hundred and fifty disciples to take refuge in the Buddha and go forth, and all attained arhatship. Among the disciples, he was foremost in supernatural powers. Because such an envoy could not be dispensed with, [the Buddha] commanded him.