Upatiṣya was born the same day as Kolita (who would later be known as Maudgalyāyana), a boy from a neighboring village whose family had been friends with Upatiṣya's family for seven generations, and became friends with him as a child. Upatiṣya and Kolita both became masters of the Vedas through their education and each developed a large following of "brahmin" youths. One day the realization that life is impermanent overtook the two friends during a festival in Rājagaha and they developed a sense of spiritual urgency.