Mahaprajñaparamita-s ́astra (Chinese, Dazhidu lun;
English, The Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise) at-
tributed to NAGARJUNA(ca. second century C.E.), are
causing the first schism of the Buddhist order, wound-
ing the Buddha, and killing a Buddhist nun named
Utpalavarna.
Devadatta is the cousin of the Buddha and is said
to have been his rival before the Buddha’s enlighten-
ment. Devadatta kills an elephant presented to the
buddha-to-be and is beaten by the Buddha in an
archery contest. Devadatta is also reported to have en-
tered the Buddhist order with other members of the
S ́akya clan, where he soon achieved magical power that
he used to gain the support of Ajatas ́atru, the crown
prince of Magadha, who finally, as a parallel crime to
Devadatta’s attacks on the Buddha, killed his father,
Bimbisara, and put himself on the throne of Magadha.
Devadatta tried several times to assassinate the Bud-
dha by releasing a drunken elephant to attack him,
by throwing a rock at him from atop Vultures’ Peak
(Grdhrakuta), and by trying to scratch him with his
poisoned fingernails.
The historical core of the legends surrounding
Devadatta is his attempt to split the Buddhist order
(san ̇ghabheda). He first tried to persuade the Buddha
to transfer the leadership of the order to him under
the pretext of introducing five stricter, more ascetic,
rules for monks (dhutaguna; ASCETIC PRACTICES), but
the Buddha refused. Devadatta succeeded in attracting
a group of followers, but they were eventually led back
to the Buddha’s order by the Buddha’s main disciples,
MAHAMAUDGALYAYANAand S ́ARIPUTRA.
In Mahayana texts such as the LOTUSSUTRA(SAD-
DHARMAPUNDARIKA-SUTRA), however, Devadatta is re-
habilitated insofar as the Buddha prophesies that
Devadatta will become a Buddha in the far future, de-
spite his misdeeds, because he has accumulated good
KARMA(ACTION) in a past existence. In their descrip-
tions of Buddhist India, the Chinese pilgrims FAXIAN
(ca. 337–418), XUANZANG(ca. 600–664), and YIJING
(635–713) refer to a monastic order of Devadatta’s that
may have existed from the lifetime of the Buddha to
the early seventh century. A careful comparison of the
traditions and their contradictions, however, seems to
indicate that this san ̇gha of Devadatta was a recent re-
ligious group in India during the first centuries C.E.As
such it refers to the earlier schismatic order ascribed
to Devadatta that attempted to gain legitimation as a
religious group connected to, but still separated from,
the Buddhist tradition.
See also:Disciples of the BuddhaBibliography
Deeg, Max. “The San ̇gha of Devadatta: Fiction and History of
a Heresy in the Buddhist Tradition.” Journal of the Interna-
tional College for Advanced Buddhist Studies 2 (1999):
183–218.
Mukherjee, Biswadeb. Die Überlieferung von Devadatta, dem
Widersacher des Buddha, in den kanonischen Schriften.Mu-
nich: J. Kitzinger, 1966.
Ray, Reginald A. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist
Values and Orientations.New York: Oxford University Press,
1994.MAXDEEGDGE LUGS (GELUK)Although the place of the scholar TSONG KHA PA
(1357–1419) in the formulation of the main ideas and
practices of the Dge lugs (pronounced Geluk) tradition
is clear, his role in the creation of a separate tradition
is less obvious. What is clear is that Tsong kha pa, who
had received his training mostly from SA SKYA(SAKYA)
scholars, stressed the importance of separate monastic
institutions. It is also known that he was exceptionally
charismatic and made an enormous impression on his
contemporaries in Tibet, where he had a large follow-
ing of powerful families and highly gifted students, in-
cluding Rgyal tshab (1364–1432) and Mkhas grub
(1385–1438). These institutional facts, along with the
power of Tsong kha pa’s ideas, explain the develop-
ment of the Dge lugs as a tradition claiming to repre-
sent the apex of Tibetan Buddhism. This claim is
reflected in the highly loaded name (Dge lugs pameans
“the virtuous ones”) that adherents later chose to call
themselves.
The beginnings were, however, quite different. Dur-
ing the first decades of the fifteenth century, Tsong kha
pa’s followers were known as Dga’ ldan pa(the ones
from the monastery of Dga’ ldan) and seem to have
been just one group within a tradition in which sec-
tarian affiliations were fluid. This situation changed
during the later decades of the fifteenth century. The
details of this process cannot be described here, but a
few relevant events must be kept in mind: the rapid in-
crease in the size of the three monasteries around
Lhasa; the creation of other large monasteries, such as
Bkra shis lhun po, founded in 1445 by Dge ‘dun grub
(1391–1474); the move to Lhasa by Dge ‘dun grub’sDGE LUGS(GELUK)