Devadatta’s First Attempt too Kill the Buddha

Now that his patron Ajatashatru was king, Devadatta approached him to begin the second part of their plan, the assassination of the Buddha so that Devadatta could become the new leader of the Sangha. Once he had been allotted a group of soldiers, Devadatta appointed one of them to go to where the Buddha was staying and kill him. Devadatta, however, was not about to take any chances that anyone would trace back this plot to him, so he set two men on the path the first man would be returning on to kill him. Then he set four men to kill the other two, and then eight men to kill those four, and finally sixteen men to kill the eight. He saw these people as nothing more than tools to be discarded once their mission was accomplished. As the saying goes, “dead men tell no tales.” Devadatta, however, had not taken into account the power of the Buddha’s dignity and compassion.

Then the one man took his sword and shield and fixed his bow and quiver, and he went to where the Blessed One was. But as he drew near, he grew frightened, till he stood still, his body quite rigid. The Blessed One saw him thus and said to him: “Come friend, do not be afraid.” Then that man laid aside his sword and shield and put down his bow and quiver. He went up to the Blessed One and prostrated himself at his feet, saying: “Lord, I have transgressed, I have done wrong like a fool confused and blundering, since I came here with evil intent, with intent to do murder. Lord, may the Blessed One forgive my transgression as such for restraint in the future.”

“Surely, friend, you have transgressed, you have done wrong like a fool confused and blundering, since you came here with evil intent, with intent to do murder. But since you see your transgression as such and so act in accordance with the Dharma, we forgive it; for it is growth in the Noble One’s Discipline when a man sees a transgression as such and so acts in accordance with the Dharma and enters upon restraint for the future.” (Life of the Buddha, pp. 260-261)

In this instance, the unnamed assassin was overcome by the great spiritual dignity of his mark, and could not go through with Devadatta’s instruction. In being invited to approach the Buddha he made a confession, which the Buddha accepted. Here the Buddha affirmed that, as we might say, “confession is good for the soul.” Specifically, the Buddha affirmed that to recognize when one is in error and to rectify that error and resolve to act differently in the future is to be in accord with the Dharma. Even those who have not formally taken any of the precepts can do this, it is a universal human act to be able to recognize one’s faults and change one’s ways. Beyond simply forgiving him and sending him on his way, the Buddha then took the opportunity to teach the Dharma, using the same “progressive instruction” that he had begun using in the early years of his ministry with householders who were hearing the Dharma for the first time:

Then the Blessed One gave the man progressive instruction, that is to say, talk on giving, on virtue, on the heavens; he explained the dangers, the vanity and the defilement in sensual pleasures and the blessings in renunciation. When he saw that his mind was ready, receptive, free from hindrance, eager and trustful, he expounded to him the teaching peculiar to the Buddhas: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. Just as a clean cloth with all marks removed would take the dye evenly, eventually the spotless, immaculate vision of the Dharma arose in him: All that is subject to arising is subject to cessation. Then he saw and reached and found and penetrated the Dharma; he left uncertainty behind him, his doubts vanished, he gained perfect confidence and became independent of others in the Teacher’s Dispensation.

He said, “Magnificent, Lord, magnificent, Lord! The Dharma has been made clear in many ways by the Blessed One, as though he were righting the overthrown, revealing the hidden, showing the way to one who is lost, holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyes to see visible forms. I go to the Blessed One for refuge and to the Dharma and to the Sangha of monks. Beginning from today, Lord, let the Blessed One receive me as his follower who has gone to him for refuge as long as breath lasts.”

The Blessed One told him: “Friend do not go back by that path; go by this path.” And he dismissed him by the other path. (Compiled and adapted from Life of the Buddha, p. 49 and p. 261)

The Buddha’s patience and magnanimity was such that he not only forgave his would-be killer but also taught him the Dharma as though he had actually sought the Buddha out for that purpose. The Buddha taught him the basis of sound spiritual health in terms of generosity, virtue, and aspiration for a heavenly way of life that could lead to a heavenly rebirth. He then taught him the value of being detached and to cut off longing for the impermanent things of this world. The teaching culminated in the teaching of the four noble truths whereupon the would-be assassin became established in the state of stream-enterer, thereby escaping the lower paths of rebirth in the hells, or as a hungry ghost or animal. The Buddha then literally sends him down a different path, thereby saving the man’s life from those who were lying in wait to kill the killer.

After awhile, the ambushers began to wonder when their victim would be coming along. Curious, they went up the path until they also encountered the Buddha. They had not themselves been told to harm the Buddha and so they paid homage and sat down. They also received the Buddha’s instruction, and as the man before them, became stream-enterers, took refuge in the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and were finally sent on their way down a different path. The same thing happened to the other groups that Devadatta had set up along the path.

In the traditional story, the now converted assassin reports back to Devadatta and tells him that he could not go through with killing the Buddha, as he is too mighty and powerful.