Devadatta- Buddhist FigureMortal"The Schismatic"

Cousin and Rival

Devadatta was a Shakya prince, cousin to the Buddha and brother to Ananda. He ordained in the early years of the sangha and developed considerable meditative power, attaining the psychic abilities that come with deep concentration. But stream-entry eluded him.

As the Buddha aged, Devadatta approached him and proposed that leadership of the sangha pass to him. The Buddha refused publicly, saying he would not hand over the sangha even to Sariputta or Moggallana, his two chief disciples, let alone to Devadatta. The humiliation drove Devadatta to Prince Ajatashatru of Magadha. He encouraged the prince to kill his father King Bimbisara and seize the throne. In return, Ajatashatru would back Devadatta's bid for the sangha.

The Assassination Attempts

Devadatta made three attempts on the Buddha's life, each recorded in the Cullavagga. First, he hired archers to ambush the Buddha on a forest path. Each assassin, upon encountering the Buddha's calm, threw down his weapons and became a disciple. Second, Devadatta climbed Vulture Peak above Rajagriha and rolled a massive boulder down the slope. The boulder shattered against an outcrop, but a splinter struck the Buddha's foot and drew blood, making Devadatta guilty of shedding the blood of a Tathagata. Third, he arranged for a maddened war elephant named Nalagiri to be released into the streets during the Buddha's alms round. The elephant charged through Rajagriha, terrifying the city, but the Buddha radiated loving-kindness toward it. Nalagiri halted, knelt, and was calmed by his touch.

The Schism

Having failed to kill the Buddha, Devadatta tried to destroy the sangha from within. He proposed five additional ascetic rules, including mandatory forest dwelling and abstinence from meat. The Buddha declined to impose them. Devadatta used the refusal to paint the Buddha as lax, and persuaded five hundred newly ordained monks from Vaishali to follow him instead. It was the first schism in Buddhist history. It did not last. Sariputta and Moggallana traveled to Devadatta's camp and, through their teaching, won back every monk.

The Earth Opens

According to the Pali Vinaya, Devadatta fell gravely ill after the failed schism. Near death, he was seized by remorse and asked to be carried to the Buddha. The bearers set out, but before they arrived, the earth opened beneath him and swallowed him into Avici, the lowest hell, where he would remain for an age.

Yet in the twelfth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha tells a different story. In a past life, he says, Devadatta was his own teacher. And the Buddha prophesies that Devadatta will one day emerge from hell and become a buddha himself. Even Avici is not the end.