維摩經疏卷第三．第六 3.9

3.9

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.