sleeping under a tree during the rainy season – but he refused to make the rules obligatory. They are among the 13 ascetic practices (dhutanga). His followers (including bhikkhus and bhikkhunis) were new monks from the Vajjī clan. King Kalābu was one of Devadatta's past lives. Mahāyāna portrayals of Devadatta Lotus Sūtra According to Jacqueline Stone and Stephen F. Teiser, Devadatta was "well known to the sutra's early devotees as the Buddhist archetype of an evildoer." In the context of the "promise of buddhahood for everyone, this chapter became widely understood as illustrating the potential for enlightenment even in evil persons." In the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 12, found in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition, the Buddha teaches that in a past life, Devadatta was his holy teacher who set him on the path, and makes a noteworthy statement about how even Devadatta will in time become a Buddha: In the Mahāmeghasūtra Devadatta is called a mahāpuruṣa (great being). Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra In the Mahayana Buddhist text, the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra, Devadatta is said to have convinced Prince Ajātasattu to murder his father King Bimbisāra and ascend the throne. Ajātasattu follows the advice, and this action (another anantarika-kamma for killing one's own father) prevents him from attaining stream-entry at a later time, when listening to some teaching of the Buddha. This is confirmed by the Sāmaññaphalasutta of the Dīgha Nikāya (DN 2). See also List of Sri Lankan monarchs History of Sri Lanka References Bibliography Deeg, Max (1999). The Saṅgha of Devadatta: Fiction and History of a Heresy in the Buddhist Tradition, Journal of the International College for Advanced Buddhist Studies 2, 195- 230 Jataka i. 142 Mahaavastu, iii. 76 Matsunami, Yoshihiro (1979), Conflict within the Development of Buddhism, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 6 (1/2), 329–345 Mukherjee, Biswadeb (1966). Die Überlieferung von Devadatta, dem Widersacher des Buddha, in den kanonischen Schriften, München: Kitzinger Tezuka, Osamu (2006), Devadatta, London: HarperCollins External links Entry in Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Disciples of Gautama Buddha Family of Gautama Buddha Indian Buddhists Heresy in Buddhism