It is said that Maudgalyayana's mother was a very bad woman. She scolded any monk or beggar who came to their house for food. She was greedy and mean, so after she died she was punished in hell. One time, Maudgalyayana thought of his mother and became quite worried, so he entered meditation and started searching for his mother.

He finally found her in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Her neck and limbs were very small. Her belly was large but, like other hungry ghosts, she did not have any food or water. Maudgalyayana wanted to help his mother, so he used his powers to create a bowl of food and a cup of water and offered them to her. However, when the food and water had barely touched her lips, a ball of fire shot out from her mouth. It burned the food and evaporated the water.

Maudgalyayana did not know what to do, so he returned from the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and went to ask the Buddha for help. The Buddha told him that his mother was being punished for sins that she had committed when she was alive, and the best way to redeem her from her misery was to offer food to many venerable monks and ask all of them to pray for his mother. The merits of all their prayers would save his mother from hell. Maudgalyayana did this, and days later his mother, dressed in white, appeared while he was in deep meditation. She joyfully told him that she had been elevated to the Realm of the Heavens, and then she disappeared.