Venerable Sariputta and Venerable Moggallana were the two chief disciples of the Buddha. They belonged to two rich Brahmin families. As laymen Sariputta was named Upatissa and Moggallana wa named Kolita. They were close friends.
As rich young men they enjoyed life, going to carnivals, theatres and other places providing entertainment. However they gradually began to feel that the happiness they got from these forms of entertainment in not real happiness. So they began to search for a higher kind of happiness. They went to a famous religious teacher called Sanjaya and studied under him.
One day Upatissa saw Venerable Assaji, one of the first five ascetics who became monks, going round begging for alms. Upatissa was very pleased with the outward behavior of Venerable Assaji. So he waited for an opportunity and asked Venerable Assji was a new monk. Therefore he explained briefly the Dhamma he knew and about the teacher whom he followed.
“My teacher is the Buddha. He speaks about the arising of all things. He explains the causes that lead to this arising and explains also how these things that have arisen come to an end”.   
Upatissa at once understood the true meaning of the teaching (Dhamma) and the greatness of the teacher (Buddha). He was so pleased that the he hurried to meet his friend Kolita to inform his about this teaching and the teacher. Both Upatissa and Kolita wanted to became disciples of the Buddha. They informed their teacher and became monks under Goutam, the Buddha. After Becoming monks Uptissa was known as Satiputta and Kolita as Moggallana. They Practiced the Dhamma under the guidance of the Buddha and soon became noble saints, Arahants. The Buddha himself declared these two Venerable monks, Sariputta and Moggallana, as his two chief disciples.
Both of them were ideal monk possessing great wisdom and compassion. They set an example for other monks by perfecting virtue (sila), concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (panna). They cared for other monks and looked after them. Both of them helped to spread the Dhamma.
Venerable Sariputta was a very methodical monk. He was always concerned about cleanliness. He swept and kept his dwelling place and neat. He was an extremely grateful and respectful monk. Before going to sleeps at night he used to find out the direction in which Venerable Assaji would be, and then clasp his hands and worship that direction as a mark of respect to his first teacher who taught him the Buddha- Dhamma. Though he was one of two chef disciples he took advice given him pointing out very junior monks. One day a novice advised him pointing out that he had not worn the robe properly. Venerable Sariputta very humbly accepted the advice and immediately draped the robe properly/ He was so thorough with whe Dhamma that he was known as the Commander-In-Chief of the Dhamma (Dhammasenapati).
Before he passed away he preached to his mother who was a very strong follower of Brahmanism and converted her to Buddhism.
Venerable Moggallana was very well known for his ability to perform miracles. Through this ability he made many converts. Along with Venerable Sariputta he guided the monks and helped to maintain unity among them. Both of them passed away before the Buddha.

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By Celebrate Life Style information Blog on 12:31. Filed under Theravada Buddhism . Follow any responses to the RSS 2.0. Leave a response