Mahāpanthaka ［摩訶槃特］ (, Pali;  Makahandoku): The elder of two brothers who were disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. He was bright, but his brother Chūdapanthaka was so dull-witted he was unable to memorize even a single verse of the Buddhist teachings. According to one account, they were sons of a Brahman living in Shrāvastī. Mahāpanthaka attained the state of arhat and led his slow-witted brother to become a follower of the Buddha. Because his brother could not commit to memory even a single verse, Mahāpanthaka thought him unable to follow the Buddha’s teachings or adapt to monastic life and was going to expel him from the monastery. At that time, Shakyamuni gave instruction to Chūdapanthaka, who then reached the state of arhat. According to The Monastic Rules of the Sarvāstivāda School, when Mahāpanthaka was born, his father prayed for him to lead a long and healthy life, and had a maidservant place the infant by the side of a main road so that a passing religious practitioner could bless him. When Chūdapanthaka was born, the father gave the same instructions to the maidservant, but she put the baby by the side of an alley. According to another account, the daughter of a wealthy man had relations with a servant and ran away with him. Later she became pregnant and wanted to return home. On her way home, she bore a son, Mahāpanthaka, on the roadside. Later she gave birth to a second son, Chūdapanthaka, also on the roadside. See also Chūdapanthaka.