Mahāmaudgalyāna

(Sanskrit; Pāli, Mahāmoggallāna). The second of the Buddha's senior disciples after Śāriputra. The two were born on the same day and were lifelong friends. Second in wisdom only to Śāriputra, Mahamaudgalyāyana was pre-eminent in miraculous powers (ṛddhi). He could conjure up innumerable living shapes and change himself into any form at will. He was beaten to death by brigands who were said to have been in the pay of the Jains (see Jainism). The Buddha explained his death as due to a wicked deed committed in a previous life when he had beaten his own blind parents to death.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)