Śāriputra assumed a leadership role in the Buddha's monastic community, or Sangha. Buddhist texts describe that Śāriputra routinely took charge of monastic affairs usually handled by the Buddha himself, such as attending to sick monks or visiting lay followers before their deaths. In one instance, when a group of monks planned to travel elsewhere, the Buddha told them to ask Śāriputra for permission first. Śāriputra was the first disciple of the Buddha who was asked to ordain monks in his place, with the Buddha giving him the ordination procedure. He was also entrusted to ordain the Buddha's son Rahula. When Śāriputra trained pupils, he gave them material and spiritual help, and assigned them an object of meditation. In the "Saccavibhanga Sutta", the Buddha compared Śāriputra to a mother who gives birth to a child while comparing Maudgalyāyana to a nurse who raises a child. Śāriputra would train students to "sotapanna", the first stage of enlightenment, and Maudgalyāyana would train students to "arhatship", the highest stage of enlightenment. However, Nyanaponika Thera notes that there are several individual cases where Śāriputra guided monks to the higher stages of enlightenment as well.