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Manual of Indian Buddhism c4.s8: 9. Devadatta and Ajātaśatru. Conversion of Ajātaśatru. Destruction of the Śakyas

Manual of Indian Buddhism c4.s8

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9. Devadatta and Ajātaśatru. Conversion of Ajātaśatru. Destruction of the Śakyas

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A new period of stirring events, — whatever may be thought of their historical character — may be said to date from the death of Bimbisāra and the accession to the throne of his parricidal son Ajātaśatru. This took place when the Buddha had reached the age of 72 years.

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Already long before that epoch enmity had sprung up in the breast of Devadatta against the Lord, whose growing fame and influence filled him with jealousy³. By his supernatural power he won the favour of the Prince royal, Ajātaśatru, and by that mighty protection he hoped one day to become the leader of the Congregation of monks.

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³ For a fuller account of the growing enmity of Devadatta, his wicked deeds and punishment, we refer the reader to CV. VII, 1-4; Dhp. pp. 139 ff. HARDY M. of B. 318 ff. Tib. L. 278; cp. ROCKHILL op. c. 83 ff. BEAL, SBE. XIX, 246 ff. Cp. also Samy. N. I, p. 154; Aṅg. N. II, p. 73 ff. CV. VII, 2. 5.

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Some time afterwards, when the Lord, sojourning in the Bambu grove, was preaching the Law, Devadatta rose from his seat, and reverentially made the proposal that the Lord, on account of his age, should leave the leadership of the Congregation of monks to him, Devadatta⁴. But on this request he received, three times over, a flat refusal. From that moment Devadatta harboured evil designs against the Lord.

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⁴ This happened according to Tib. L. 278 in the 25th rainy season. The reason adduced by D. that the Buddha was so old, is significant, as he himself was of the same age. Sapienti sat.

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In consequence of what had happened, the Master ordered the monks that Devadatta should be publicly denounced as one who had proved false, and whose words and deeds were not to be recognized as issuing from the Buddha, the Law, or the Congregation.

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The act of denunciation was carried out by Śāriputra, accompanied by a number of monks. The exasperated Devadatta went to Ajātaśatru Vaidehīputra and incited him to kill Bimbisāra. "Do you kill your father, and become king", said he, "and I will kill the Lord and become Buddha". The Prince lent the ear to the instigation of the traitor, and was about to carry his murderous plan into effect, when he was detected and brought before the King, who magnanimously abdicated and gave over the kingdom to Ajātaśatru¹.

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¹ We know from other sources that Bimbisāra was murdered by Ajātaśatru; Dīgh. N. I, p. 85; Divy. p. 280; HARDY M. of B. p. 318; Tib. 1. 284; ROCKHILL op. c. 89-91.

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Then Devadatta went to Ajātaśatru to secure for himself the Prince's support in his design to deprive Gautama of life. Having got the consent of the ruler, the traitor hired 16 men to murder the Buddha. But when the bravoes saw the Lord, they felt themselves so overawed that they fell at his feet, confessed their sinful intention and became converts. One man returned to Devadatta and declared that it was impossible to deprive the Lord of life. Devadatta now took to another means to accomplish his criminal design. He watched the moment when the Lord was walking in the shade below the Gṛdhrakūṭa mountain and hurled down a large piece of rock to crush his enemy. But two mountain peaks came together and stopped that rock, so that only a splinter caused the Lord's foot to bleed. Then the Master, looking up, said to Devadatta: "Foolish man! great is the demerit you have produced for yourself", and to the monks: "Devadatta has here committed one of the deadly sins that bring with them immediate retribution"².

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² *Anantariya-* or *ānantarika-kamma*, coinciding with five of the six *abhiṭhānas*. They are *mātughāta, pitugh., arahatagh., lohituppāda, and saṅghabheda*; S. Nip. p. 40; cp. CHILDERS s. vv. *pañcānantariyakammam* and *abhiṭhānam*. The corresponding Skr. terms of the *Anantaryāni* are given Vyu. § 122; WASSILIEF B. 240 has *Anantarīya*. — Any one guilty of such a crime, should not be ordained, and, if he is a monk, be expelled; MV. 1, 64-67.

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When the monks heard of the nefarious attempt of Devadatta, they were much affected and made loud recitations to protect the Lord, but he allayed their fears, saying: "It is impossible that one should deprive the Tathāgata of life by violence. The Tathāgatas reach extinction in due and natural course".

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A last attempt on the Lord's life was made by Devadatta by means of the elephant Nālāgiri, whom they maddened and then let loose in the carriage road of Rājagṛha. No sooner had the infuriated animal come into the presence of the Lord, than he was pervaded by a sense of benevolence issuing from the Buddha, and lowered his trunk. Some edifying words of the Master were sufficient to wholly subdue the elephant, that took up the dust from off the Lord's feet, sprinkled it over his head and quietly retired³.

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³ Cp. ROCKHILL op. c. 93; BEAL SBE. XIX, 247.

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After these events Devadatta made an attempt to stir up discord in the Sangha⁴. He persuaded Kokālika, Kaṭamoraka-tissaka, Khaṇḍadevi-putta, and Samuddadatta⁵ to go with him to the Buddha in order to request that a life of more severe asceticism should be prescribed for all members of the Congregation, viz. to live as hermits in the woods; to beg lifelong for food, without ever accepting an invitation; to clothe themselves in cast off rags; to dwell at the foot of trees; to abstain from fish and meat. The Master refused to accede to these demands, and declared that he left liberty to those who wished to live in such a manner, but that he would not make those rules obligatory for all monks.

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⁴ *Saṅghabeda*. The tale — supposing it has an historical basis — is misplaced, since all connection between Devadatta and the Master was broken off.

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⁵ Evidently the same as the 5 Śākyas Kokālika, Kaṭamoraga, Tiṣya, Khaṇḍadravya, and Sāgaradatta of Tib, L. 266. Whether Khaṇḍadeviputta is identical with Khaṇḍadeva in *Saṃy*. N. I, 5, 10; II, 3, 4, is not clear.

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Devadatta, who had expected this refusal, made it a pretext for agitating against the Lord. He gained over to his party 500 Vṛjian monks from Vaiśālī, who having recently entered the Congregation, were ignorant of the rules, and thus he created a schism. After he had gone with these followers to the Gayāsīrṣa hill, it happened that he was preaching and saw Sāriputra with Maudgalyāyana in the assembly. On the erroneous supposition that they had joined his party, he invited Sāriputra to deliver a sermon, as he himself felt tired and wanted to sleep. Sāriputra and Maudgalyāyana now addressed the assembly and prevailed upon the 500 schismatics to return to the Buddha. When Devadatta, roused from his slumber by Kokālika, heard what had happened, the hot blood issued from his mouth.

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The wickedness of Devadatta could not remain unpunished, and the Master accordingly declared to his disciples that the man who had thus been swayed by his bad passions was doomed to remain for a Kalpa in states of suffering and punishment¹. And he, once so wise and virtuous, so bright with glory, went down to the deepest of hells, to be reborn after a Kalpa as a Pratyekabuddha, named Aṭṭhissara, or as others say, Devarāja².

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¹ Apāyiko nerayiko. There are 4 Apāyas: naraka, hell, purgatory; petaloka, the world of spectres; asuraloka, the world of demons; tiracchāna, the state of brute; see CHILDERS s. vv. In Lal. V. 238 the number of Apāyas is three.

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² Mil. P. 111; Dhp. p. 148; BEAL, SBE. 248; ROCKHILL op. c. 107; HARDY M. of B. 328. Fa Hian, Rec. p. 60, saw in Śrāvastī the very spot where Devadatta went down to hell. How he came in Śrāvastī is left unexplained in the N. traditions, which, indeed, represent him as continuing his wicked attempts after the conversion of Ajātaśatru. Aṭṭhissara means "the Lord of 16" (of course kalas).

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King Ajātaśatru, having killed his father, felt the pangs of conscience. In his anxiety and doubts, he consulted the six Tirthikas, the adversaries of the Lord, but their teachings disappointed him. Then on the advice of Jivaka, the physician, he went to the great spiritual physician, the Tathāgata, and owing to the words of wisdom he heard from the Master's lips he became a convert to the true faith³.

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³ Samaññaph. S. in different versions; cp. above p. 32, note. The reappearance there of Pūraṇa-Kaśyapa, notwithstanding his previous death, has nothing in it to surprise us. For what kind of historical value the Buddhist authorities attach to such tales, is egregiously exemplified by the fact that the six heretical teachers reappear on the scene in the days of Nāgasena and the King Menander — as busy and mischievous as ever; Mil. P. pp. 4 ff.

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During the reign of Ajātaśatru, in the 7th year, the Śākya-race met with a sad fate. King Prasenajit of Kosala had a son Viḍūḍabha, by Vāsabhakkhattiyā, the natural daughter of Mahānāman, the successor of Śuddhodana in Kapilavastu, and of a slave girl. It was by deceit that Vāsabhakkhattiyā had been affianced by the Śākyas. When the trick afterwards was discovered, and Viḍūḍabha had been slighted by the Śākyas, he resolved to take revenge. With the assistance of the commander-in-chief Dīgha-Kārāyaṇa he dethroned his father Prasenajit, who fled from Śrāvastī and died soon afterwards. Viḍūḍabha now marched against Kapilavastu, in consequence of which the whole Śākya clan was exterminated. He himself, however, miserably perished, along with his Kosala company, by a sudden flood⁴.

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⁴ Jāt. IV, pp. 144 ff. Dhp. pp. 216-225; cp. HARDY M. of B. 283.

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In the N. version of the story Viḍūḍabha is named Virūḍhaka, his mother Mālikā⁵, and the commander-in-chief Dīrgha-Cārāyaṇa. In spite of other variations, the main features of the tale are the same⁶.

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⁵ SCHIEFNER, Tib. L. 287: Mālint. Both renderings of Tib. Phreṅ-can are admissible, phreṅ answering to Skr. mālā.

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⁶ Tib. L. l. c.; ROCKHILL op. 75-79; 112-122. Mālikā, the flower girl — the spelling in the texts is Mallikā — is not unknown to the Pāli writings as one of Prasenajit's queens, but she is not the mother of Viḍūḍabha. For her history see Jāt. III, 405 ff. Cp. IV, 437; Ud. V, 1; Mil. P. 115; 291; Samy. N. III, 1, 8; Dhp. p. 317; M. of B. 285. Another Mallikā is the wife of Bandhula; Jāt. IV, 148; Dhp. 218. A

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