Moggallana and Sariputta were childhood friends who wandered together as ascetics, vowed that whoever found the deathless first would tell the other, and became the Buddha's two chief disciples — Sariputta at his right hand for wisdom, Moggallana at his left for supernatural power.
The Buddha designated ten monks as his principal disciples, each declared foremost in a specific quality — Sariputta in wisdom, Moggallana in supernatural powers, Mahakashyapa in ascetic practice, Ananda in learning, Anuruddha in divine eye, Subhuti in dwelling without conflict, Purna in preaching, Maha Katyayana in detailed exposition, Upali in monastic discipline, and Rahula in desire for training.
Gautama Buddha named Moggallana his left-hand chief disciple and declared him foremost in supernatural powers — the monk who could travel to heaven and hell, shake Vejayanta palace with his toe, and converse face to face with devas and yakkhas.
Mara entered Moggallana's belly to torment him, but the elder disciple recognized the intruder, rebuked him by name, and drove him out — then revealed that in a past life he himself had been a Mara who once swallowed a Buddha's chief disciple, suffering terrible karmic consequences.
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