Using King Ajātasattu's power, Devadatta makes several attempts on the Buddha's life, none of which succeed. At Devadatta's request Ajātasattu sends men to assassinate the Buddha, and sends further men in layers to silence them; but on seeing the Buddha the assassins are seized with fear, the Buddha gives each group a graduated teaching, and they attain the and as male . Devadatta then climbs Mount Gijjhakūṭa and pushes down a great boulder; the rock is caught by the crags, but a splinter wounds the Buddha's foot and draws blood. He also has the mahouts release the drunken elephant Nāḷāgiri on the road the Buddha is taking, and the Buddha subdues the elephant with loving-kindness. The plot against the Buddha's life is found in the Vinaya texts of four schools; the boulder and the drunken elephant each in three. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
Different Accounts
Who stopped the boulder: the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya has the spirit Jinbilu catch the rock and throw it far away, a splinter wounding the Buddha's big toe; the Chinese Sarvāstivāda Vinaya has the yakkha Kumbhīra catch it with both hands; the Pali Vinaya has two peaks of the mountain close together to block it. Taishō Canon
More differences between accounts (3)
The drunken elephant: the Pali Vinaya names it Nāḷāgiri; the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya calls it King Ajātasattu's great fierce elephant and places its release before the boulder; the Saṅghabhedavastu of the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya calls it the great elephant Hucai (Dhanapāla, “Guardian of Wealth”).
Number of assassins: the Pali Vinaya has one sent first, then two, four, eight and sixteen; the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya has two sent first, then four.
The Pali Vinaya records the Buddha saying that drawing the Buddha's blood was the first “deed of immediate retribution” (the gravest class of evil deed) committed by Devadatta.
Dating
Around Year 38 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged about seventy-two, after Bimbisāra's abdication; the canonical texts say only that it was in the Buddha's later years, and the year is inferred from the year of Ajātasattu's accession; the season is unknown; inferred from the sequence of events, the year is not certain.
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Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode of “Devadatta plots against the Buddha” is recorded by four schools, the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü) and the Chinese Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (Shisong lü). Attested across multiple schools. Within it, “the boulder wounds the foot” is recorded by three schools; “the drunken elephant is released” is recorded by three schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it); converted from the Buddha's age (reckoned from the Buddha's age). Time precision: year uncertain.