Dabba then entered the fire element, and with his finger glowing, he walked in front of those monks. They followed behind him with the help of that light. And he would assign them dwellings: “This is the bed, this the bench, this the mattress, this the pillow, this the place for defecating, this the place for urinating, this the water for drinking, this the water for washing, this the walking stick; these are the Sangha’s agreements concerning the right time to enter and the right time to leave.” Dabba then returned to the Bamboo Grove.

At that time the monks Mettiya and Bhūmajaka were only newly ordained. They had little merit, getting inferior dwellings and meals. The people of Rājagaha were keen to give specially prepared almsfood to the senior monks—ghee, oil, and special curries—but to the monks Mettiya and Bhūmajaka they gave ordinary food of porridge and broken rice. When they had eaten their meal and returned from almsround, they asked the senior monks, “What did you get at the dining hall?” Some said, “We got ghee, oil, and special curries.” But the monks Mettiya and Bhūmajaka said, “We didn’t get anything except ordinary food of porridge and broken rice.”