Devadatta was a Buddhist monk by tradition. He was the brother of Yashodhara who was Prince Siddhartha’s wife. Devadatta is the brother-in-law and cousin of the Sakyamuni Buddha that is Gautama Siddhartha. Devatta was a sakyan and koliyan. He separated from the Buddha and with five hundred other religious ascetics and formed a group with the clan relatives of Siddhartha and Devadatta both.
Devadatta in Pali means God-given. Devadatta is also called a conch shell which Arjuna used in the Kurukshetra War, as mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. Even today, the name Devadatta continues to be used.
Research indicates that that Devadatta’s figure was different and as a Buddhist saint he desired that the monks lived a rigorous lifestyle. Continued existence of Devadatta’s followers is recorded in the early centuries when Chinese and Faxian pilgrims travelled to India.
All Buddhas prior to Gautama Buddha, have been honored by the followers of Devadatta as per records. The Theravada tells about how Devadatta went forth with clansmen and other relatives of Buddha. He achieved psychic power during the first year however no supernatural achievement was made by him.
In his Sangha he taught everyone to adopt five austerities or tapas all through their lives. As per the Tapas, monks should live in the forest all through their life and they should not accept meal invitations but should beg for alms all through their life. They should abstain from flesh and fish completely, not dwell under a roof but at the foot of a tree and should not accept robes from lay people but wear robes created from discarded rags. The Buddha however was unwilling to make the rules obligatory.
