According to the rule set down by the Buddha, all the monks and nuns had to go from door to door to beg for food, without regard for the social status of the donors. However, Subbuti always went to the homes of rich people to beg for food, no matter how far away they were. After a while, some monks noticed this and started to criticize him for seeking good food and for looking down on poor people. Subhuti explained to them:"I beg food from the rich not because I desire their food, but because the poor already have problems feeding themselves, so how can they have any left over for us? It is already embarrassing for us that we cannot give them food, so how can I dare to add to their burden by begging food from them? For rich people, giving a meal is a very easy thing to do, and that is the reason why I do not beg from the poor."

Kasyapa then came to Subhuti. "I beg food from the poor so that they can have a chance to receive merits. They are poor because they do not have blessings. My begging provides them a chance to cultivate their personal blessings, so they will not be poor in the future. The rich have many things already, so why do you bother to give them even more chances to receive merits?" Undoubtedly, this comment from Kasyapa was a reprimand to Subhuti.

"Begging from the rich or from the poor benefits all of them，" Subhuti explained. "There are many ways to do spiritual cultivation according to the Buddha's teachings, so we can each go about our own way. We do not need to force others to follow our way."

Clearly Subhuti's way was in sharp contrast to Kasyapa's. However, the Buddha did not agree with either one of them. He admonished them both for not observing the right way of begging. He believed that the proper way to beg was to disregard the social status and economic condition of the donors. Namely, they should have begged without making any discrimination or distinction in their minds. Subhuti humbly accepted this instruction and changed his methods, but Kasyapa still carried on in his own way, begging from the poor.

One time when Subhuti was meditating on Vulture Peak Mountain, he suddenly felt ill and weary. He considered that there could be many causes of illness, and at that moment his illness was due to bad karma he had created in the past. It could not be cured by medicine. If he believed in the truth of the law of cause and effect, confessed and repented of his crimes, and worked on his meditation, his mind and body would achieve tranquility. Contemplating all this, he suddenly felt peaceful and his illness disappeared.

Subhuti won the the admiration of many monks and nuns for his magnanimity and the high state of spiritual cultivation he had achieved. Even the Buddha praised him during the ceremony of the Diamond Prajnaparamita(the content of which has been compiled into the Diamond Sutra)as his best student, one who had reached arhathood and had no worldly desires. "Venerable One, I am flattered with your compliment," Subhuti humbly replied."However, I'm not qualified to be given the title existed in my mind, I would then still be entrapped by an attachment to something. In fact, Maudgalyayana and Sariputra are the ones who should be given the honorary title of arhat." This, of course, shows that Subhuti was indeed a humble and great cultivator.