14 Facts About Devadatta

Devadatta was by tradition a Buddhist monk, cousin and brother-in-law of Gautama Siddhartha.

The followers of Devadatta are recorded to have honored all the Buddhas previous to Sakyamuni, but not Sakyamuni himself.

In Cullavagga section VII of the Vinayapitaka of the Theravadins which deals with schisms, it is told how Devadatta went forth along with a number of the Buddha's other relatives and clansmen.

When told about the offerings that Devadatta was receiving, the Buddha remarked that all these gains were only going towards his destruction, just as a plantain or a bamboo is destroyed by its fruit.

Shortly thereafter, Devadatta asked the Buddha to retire and let him take over the running of the Sangha.

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Ajatasattu then gave mercenaries to Devadatta who ordered them to kill the Buddha, and in an elaborate plan to cover his tracks he ordered other men to kill the killers, and more to kill them and so on, but when they approached the Buddha they were unable to carry out their orders, and were converted instead.

Devadatta then tried to kill the Buddha himself by throwing a rock at him from on high, while the Buddha was walking on the slopes of a mountain.

Devadatta then decided to create a schism in the order, and collected a few monk friends and demanded that the Buddha accede to the following rules for the monks: they should dwell all their lives in the forest, live entirely on alms obtained by begging, wear only robes made of discarded rags, dwell at the foot of a tree and abstain completely from fish and flesh.

Buddha refused to make any of these compulsory and Devadatta went round blaming him, saying that he was living in abundance and luxury.

Devadatta then decided to create a schism and recite the training rules apart from the Buddha and his followers, with 500 newly ordained monks.

Devadatta thought they had come to join his Sangha and, asking Sariputta to give a talk, fell asleep.

Devadatta tried to go to the Buddha's place to apologize for what he did, but it was too late.

All because Devadatta was a good friend to me, I was able to become fully endowed with this six paramitas, pity, compassion, joy, and indifference, with the thirty-two features, the eighty characteristics, the purple-tinged golden color, the ten powers, the four kinds of fearlessness, the four methods of winning people, the eighteen unshared properties, and the transcendental powers and the power of the way.

The fact that I have attained impartial and correct enlightenment and can save living beings on a broad scale is all due to Devadatta who was a good friend.