A man named Aniruddha was a disciple of the Buddha. As he gained the supernatural power to see through things, he was renowned for his divine eyesight and counted as one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha together with Mahā-Kāśyapa, Śāripūtra, Maudgalyāyana, and Ānanda.

As we look at his origin, Aniruddha was a prince of King Doroṇodana, second son of King Shimuhahanu. Namely, he was a cousin of Śākyamuni Buddha. He is known by three names: Never in Poverty, Wish Fulfilling, and Never Hunting, each of which originates in a wonderful story.

There once was a noble pratyekabuddha named Venerable Rita who lived during a time of famine. He had nothing to eat for seven days until a hunter living in a mountain village gave him a bowl of barnyard millet rice. Due to this meritorious act, it is said this hunter became a rich man in this life, and upon death he enjoyed a happy life in the realm of human beings and that of heavenly beings for as long as 91 kalpa (aeons). Finally, he was reborn as the crown prince of King Doroṇodana. This is Aniruddha, whose golden rice bowl was always full of cooked rice. He reached the rank of arhat and his eyesight was equipped with the supernatural faculty of seeing through the whole universe. As a result, he was guaranteed by the Buddha to be the future Buddha of Universal Brightness in the Lotus Sūtra fascicle 4.

Grand Master Miao-lê interpreted the story in this way, “Although a bowl of barnyard millet rice is not much in value, offering it meant he gave up all that he had and the ‘field of merit’ was superior. As a result, an especially great reward was gained.” It means that “Although a bowl of barnyard millet rice is not precious, he offered all he had in this world to a hungry venerable Buddhist monk engaged in ascetic practices. With this great merit he gained such a wonderful reward to be reborn as a splendid person.”

Ueno-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 9-10