Even though Moggallana had supernormal powers and was an Arahant
he did not, unlike his friend Sariputta, have a peaceful death.
Moggallana’s ability to see into other realms and explain the operation
of the law of kamma, together with his extraordinary teaching skills,
made him very popular. Many disciples of other teachers were placed in
the Buddha’s Noble Path by Moggallana.

Ascetics of other sects, seeing their numbers dwindle, decided to kill
Moggallana. Unwilling to perform the evil deed, for fear of exposure,
they hired assassins to kill Moggallana. Moggallana was meditating in
his hut in Black Rock on Mount Isigili on the outskirts of Rajagaha
when they made the first attempt. Moggallana used his supernormal
powers to escape unseen. The second time too the assassins found an
empty hut. On the third attempt Moggallana’s supernormal powers
momentarily deserted him. The assassins battered and crushed his
bones and left him for dead.

Moggallana, however, was the second chief disciple of the Buddha. He
was not going to pass away without first paying homage to the Buddha
and obtaining permission for his Parinibbána. Gathering his battered
body with supreme effort, using astral travel, Moggallana went to where
the Buddha was residing and asked permission to die. Then, as was the
custom for the chief disciple, he dispensed the Dhamma to those in
attendance, performed many miracles to give confidence to the
multitude gathered, and passed away to Parinibbána. Moggallana
passed away two weeks after his friend Sariputta, in the month of
Kattika (October/November).


The monks and disciples were outraged at the untimely death of their
beloved teacher. The king ordered an investigation into the murder and
caught the assassins, who informed him that they had been hired by
Niganthanatha ascetics. The king then had the ascetics tortured and
killed, in keeping with the laws at that time for murderers.


The devotees also asked the Buddha why Maha Moggallana had come
to such a painful death. The Buddha explained the law of kamma that
even an Arahant could not avoid, and spoke of a grave crime that
Moggallana had performed in a previous birth.

At the instigation of his wife, Moggallana had murdered both his
parents, who were blind, by pounding them to death. His aged parents,
who thought that they were being attacked by a band of robbers,
implored their son, whom they loved, to save himself. Little did they
know that it was their own son, who, in the guise of robbers, had
committed this evil act. Moggallana suffered in hell for many thousands
of years and had to die a violent death even as an Arahant, for killing
one’s parents is a grave (garuka) crime, the effects of which are not
easily extinguished.