The Buddha once spent a night in a potter’s shed. In the same shed there was a young recluse who had arrived there earlier. They did not know each other. The Buddha observed the recluse, and thought to himself: ‘Pleasant are the ways of this young man. It would be good if I should ask about him’. So the Buddha asked him: ‘O bhikkhu, in whose name have you left home? Or who is your master? Or whose doctrine do you like?’
‘O friend,’ answered the young man, ‘there is the recluse Gotama, a Sakyan scion, who left the Saka-family to become a recluse. There is high repute abroad of him that he is an Arahant, a Fully-Enlightened One. He is my Master, and I like his doctrine.’
‘Where does the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Fully-Enlightened One live at the present time?’
‘In the countries to the north, friend, there is a city called Savatthi. It is there that that Blessed One, the Arahant, the Fully-Enlightened One is now living.’
‘Have you ever seen him, the Blessed One? Would you recognize him if you saw him?’
‘I have never seen the Blessed One. Nor should I recognize him if I saw him’ The Buddha realized it was in his name that this unknown young man had left home and become a recluse. But without divulging his own identity, he said: ‘O bhikkhu, I will teach you the doctrine. Listen and pay attention. I will speak.’
‘Very well, friend,’ said the young man in assent. Then the Buddha delivered to this young man a most remarkable discourse explaining Truth. It was only at the end of the discourse that this young recluse, whose name was Pukkusati, realized that the person who spoke to him was the Buddha himself. So he got up, went before the Buddha, bowed down at the feet of the Master, and apologized to him for calling him ‘friend’ unknowingly. He then begged the Buddha to ordain him and admit him into the Order of the Sangha.