Nandamoogyeol - Five Hundred and Fifty Nipata Prose Novels (Volume 4)

The Illitha caste.

While the Buddha, the teacher of men, gods, and Brahmas, was dwelling in the Jetavana monastery in Savatthi, there lived a wealthy man in the Sakkara Nigona near Rajagaha, who was eighty crores in wealth. That rich man never gave a drop of oil that he touched with a blade of grass to anyone. He did not use his wealth for his children or his wife. He also gave it to brahmins. For example, he did not use it like a pond guarded by the demon Dakarakkhotha, and he became a poor man.

One day, the wealthy man, returning from a meal with the king, saw a villager eating a pot of fried rice, and he felt a strong desire to eat it. So he returned to his home...

"If I say I want to eat fried rice, many people will gather around and eat it. If that happens, my possessions will be depleted."

He was very shy and reluctant, and without telling anyone, he endured the urge to eat and drink.

As the desire grew stronger day by day, his skin became thinner, his strength diminished, and his health began to suffer. So he stopped going out and stayed in his room, lying on his bed. The rich woman asked him gently about the matter, but he remained silent, fearing that his wealth would be reduced.

The rich lady kept asking questions over and over again, but...

"Madam, I don't have any particular illness. I'm just feeling this way because I have a strong desire to eat fried rice."

He said. Then the rich lady said...

"My lord, if it were possible... if you had told me from the beginning, you wouldn't have felt this way. You are not poor. If you had said that you would eat, you could have fried it until the whole world could eat it."

He said. The rich man forbade him, saying that he did not want to feed the whole world. Then he said that he would feed the whole city, the whole street, all the neighbors, and all the people in the house. But the rich man, who was very cunning, did not want to feed even his wife, but only himself. So the rich man had to arrange for one of his husbands. In this arrangement, he was afraid that if he cooked it elsewhere, people would find out, so he went up to the seventh floor and locked the door tightly and ordered him to cook it.

The rich lady also took some broken rice, a pot, a stove, milk, honey, molasses, and butter, and went up to the seventh floor with the rich man. She closed the door tightly. After everything was carefully arranged, she began to fry the bread and pot.

When the Blessed One arose from his slumber at dawn, he looked with his wisdom at all the beings in the world who were worthy of being saved, filled with great compassion and samadhi. Then he saw the situation of the wealthy Misriya husband and wife. Here he called the Venerable Moggallana and said,

“My dear son, Venerable Moggallāna, today the wealthy Misrāya in the Sakkara Nigāna is eating fried bread, so he has climbed to the seven realms and is frying it. If you go to them, my dear son, and break their pride, you must bring bread, milk, honey, and ghee from them, as well as their husbands and wives, to the monastery. I, the Buddha, will be waiting with five hundred monks.”

"And he gave him the task." Here, Moggallana, with his power, ascended from the heavens and stopped at the seven realms. When the rich man saw Moggallana, his heart trembled. The rich man...

"I, on the other hand, have been cooking bread in secret, going up to the seven levels of the heavens so that no one can smell it, but this monk has come and stopped to eat alms in a strange way. He will have to run away."

With that in mind...

"Master, even if you were to stand in the sky, or walk around, or fly, or gather in a basket, or stand at the door, you would never be able to get my bread without frying it."

"He said. Moggallana also showed his various powers. But the circumstances were strange and he did not come. Finally, he released the smoke. So the whole of the palace was covered with smoke and went away. The rich man also suffered unbearable pain because the smoke got into his eyes. Then the rich man also

"This monk is so obsessed with my fried bread. If he doesn't get it from me, he won't be able to return it. He'll just have to offer me a small piece of bread."

The rich lady thought to herself,

“Ma’am, fry a small piece of bread. Just a small one – don’t make it big.”

The rich woman, as her husband had ordered, added a little flour and fried it, and by the power of the Venerable Moggallana, it became a large loaf of bread, filling the entire pot. Looking at the large loaf, the rich woman felt sorry for herself. So she added a little flour and fried it again, and it became an even larger loaf, and in the end, she could not help but say:

"Ma'am, please donate a piece of bread."

"He ordered. The rich lady took a piece of bread from the bread basket and was about to offer it to the people. When the bread came out, the other pieces of bread in the basket stuck together. At this point, the rich lady quickly pulled the pieces of bread that had stuck together, sweating profusely. However, she could not pull them apart, and her appetite was exhausted.

"Madam, I just poured out a whole basket." . . .

The rich man's wife gave him a whole basket of bread. At this, the Venerable Moggallana spoke to the rich man and his wife about the merits of the Three Jewels and the benefits of giving, and the rich man and his wife were filled with gratitude. At this, the rich man also

"Venerable sir, please come to this throne and bless me as you wish, Venerable Sir."

He applied.

Here is what the Buddha said:

"Rich man, the Buddha and five hundred monks are waiting to offer you alms. You should bring the alms yourselves and accompany them to the monastery," he said.

The rich man too

"Venerable sir, it is forty-five leagues to reach the Jetavana monastery, so I will not be able to catch up with the alms."

Even though he applied

"My lord, if you wish to follow me, I will use my power to bring you there on time."

Saying this, Moggallana, with his power, brought the rich man and his wife to the Jetavana monastery and brought them before the Buddha.

The rich man and his wife also offered food and water to the five hundred monks led by the Buddha. When the Buddha and the five hundred monks had given food and water, the rich man and his wife ate as much as they wanted. No matter how much they ate, the food never ran out. The offering of food and water