1Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Now on that occasion the Venerable Sāriputta and the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna were dwelling at Rājagaha in a single dwelling in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary. Then, in the evening, the Venerable Sāriputta emerged from seclusion and approached the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna. He exchanged greetings with the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna and, when they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and said to him:

2"Friend Moggallana, your faculties are serene, your facial complexion is pure and bright. Has the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna spent the day in a peaceful dwelling?"

"I spent the day in a gross dwelling, friend, but I did have some Dhamma talk." [n.384] Spk: The dwelling is called gross on account of its object. For he dwelt in the exercise of the divine eye and divine ear element, which take gross objects, namely, the form base and the sound base.

"With whom did the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna have some Dhamma talk?"

"I had some Dhamma talk with the Blessed One, friend."

"But the Blessed One is far away, friend. He is now dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. Did the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna approach the Blessed One by means of spiritual power, or did the Blessed One approach the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna by means of spiritual power?" sn.ii.276

"I didn’t approach the Blessed One by means of spiritual power, friend, nor did the Blessed One approach me by means of spiritual power. Rather, the Blessed One cleared his divine eye and divine ear element to communicate with me, and I cleared my divine eye and divine ear element to communicate with the Blessed One." [n.385] I translate the peculiar Pali idiom here a little freely to bring out the meaning. My rendering follows Spk's paraphrase: "The elder wondered, ‘Where is the Blessed One now dwelling?’ Having extended light, he saw him with the divine eye sitting in his Fragrant Cottage in Jeta's Grove; then he heard his voice with the divine ear element. The Teacher did the same, and thus they could see each other and hear each other's voices."

"What kind of Dhamma talk did the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna have with the Blessed One?"

3"Here, friend, I said to the Blessed One: ‘Venerable sir, it is said, "one with energy aroused, one with energy aroused." In what way, venerable sir, does one have energy aroused?’ The Blessed One then said to me: ‘Here, Moggallana, a bhikkhu with energy aroused dwells thus: "Willingly, let only my skin, sinews, and bones remain, and let the flesh and blood dry up in my body, but I will not relax my energy so long as I have not attained what can be attained by manly strength, by manly energy, by manly exertion." [n.386] As at SN12.22. It is in such a way, Moggallana, that one has aroused energy.’ Such, friend, is the Dhamma talk that I had with the Blessed One."

4"Friend, compared to the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna we are like a few grains of gravel compared to the Himalayas, the king of mountains. For the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna is of such great spiritual power and might that if so he wished he could live on for an aeon." [n.387] See SN51.10. Spk glosses kappa here as āyukappa, meaning the full human life span of 120 years. However, there seems to be no textual basis for taking kappa in this passage as meaning anything other than a cosmic aeon, the full extent of time required for a world system to evolve and dissolve. See V, n. 249.

5"Friend, compared to the Venerable Sāriputta we are like a few grains of salt compared to a barrel of salt. sn.ii.277 For the Venerable Sāriputta has been extolled, lauded, and praised in many ways by the Blessed One:

7In this manner both these great nāgas rejoiced in what was well stated and well declared by the other. [n.388] The word "nāga" here is used in the sense of arahant.

1Evaṁ me sutaṁ—​ ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ vihārati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā ca sāriputto āyasmā ca mahāmoggallāno rājagahe vihāranti veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe ekavihāre. Atha kho āyasmā sāriputto sāyanhasamayaṁ paṭisallānā vuṭṭhito yenāyasmā mahāmoggallāno tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmatā mahāmoggallānena saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā sāriputto āyasmantaṁ mahāmoggallānaṁ etadavoca:

2"Vippasannāni kho te, āvuso moggallāna, indriyāni; parisuddho mukhavaṇṇo pariyodāto santena nūnāyasmā mahāmoggallāno ajja vihārena vihāsī"ti.

"Oḷārikena khvāhaṁ, āvuso, ajja vihārena vihāsiṁ. Api ca me ahosi dhammī kathā"ti.

"Kena saddhiṁ panāyasmato mahāmoggallānassa ahosi dhammī kathā"ti?

"Bhagavatā kho me, āvuso, saddhiṁ ahosi dhammī kathā"ti.

"Dūre kho, āvuso, bhagavā etarahi sāvatthiyaṁ vihārati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Kiṁ nu kho āyasmā mahāmoggallāno bhagavantaṁ iddhiyā upasaṅkami; udāhu bhagavā āyasmantaṁ mahāmoggallānaṁ iddhiyā upasaṅkamī"ti?

"Na khvāhaṁ, āvuso, bhagavantaṁ iddhiyā upasaṅkamiṁ; napi maṁ bhagavā iddhiyā upasaṅkami. Api ca me yāvatā bhagavā ettāvatā dibbacakkhu visujjhi dibbā ca sotadhātu. Bhagavatopi yāvatāhaṁ ettāvatā dibbacakkhu visujjhi dibbā ca sotadhātū"ti.

"Yathākathaṁ panāyasmato mahāmoggallānassa bhagavatā saddhiṁ ahosi dhammī kathā"ti?

3"Idhāhaṁ, āvuso, bhagavantaṁ etadavocaṁ: ‘āraddhavīriyo āraddhavīriyoti, bhante, vuccati. Kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, āraddhavīriyo hotī’ti? Evaṁ vutte, maṁ, āvuso, bhagavā etadavoca: ‘idha, moggallāna, bhikkhu āraddhavīriyo vihārati – kāmaṁ taco ca nhāru ca aṭṭhi ca avasissatu, sarīre upassussatu maṁsalohitaṁ, yaṁ taṁ purisathāmena purisavīriyena purisaparakkamena pattabbaṁ na taṁ apāpuṇitvā vīriyassa saṇṭhānaṁ bhavissatīti. Evaṁ kho, moggallāna, āraddhavīriyo hotī’ti. Evaṁ kho me, āvuso, bhagavatā saddhiṁ ahosi dhammī kathā"ti.

4"Seyyathāpi, āvuso, himavato pabbatarājassa parittā pāsāṇasakkharā yāvadeva upanikkhepanamattāya; evameva kho mayaṁ āyasmato mahāmoggallānassa yāvadeva upanikkhepanamattāya. Āyasmā hi mahāmoggallāno mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo ākaṅkhamāno kappaṁ tiṭṭheyyā"ti.

5"Seyyathāpi, āvuso, mahatiyā loṇaghaṭāya parittā loṇasakkharāya yāvadeva upanikkhepanamattāya; evameva kho mayaṁ āyasmato sāriputtassa yāvadeva upanikkhepanamattāya. Āyasmā hi sāriputto bhagavatā anekapariyāyena thomito vaṇṇito pasattho:

7Itiha te ubho mahānāgā aññamaññassa subhāsitaṁ sulapitaṁ samanumodiṁsūti.

Tatiyaṁ.