Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

Devadatta is a peculiar person in the history of Buddhism, who committed a crime against the Buddha. For this reason, he has been described as an evil man. In spite of this fact, there are some noticeable records which show Devadatta’0s extraordinary activity. They can give a strong validity that Devadatta’s crime was caused not because of the conflict between persons but because of that between groups. It implies that Devadatta might be a head of antagonistic group. Devadatta might acquire the supports from Ajataśtru and some disciples. It resulted in the split of groups. In this paper, Devadatta is at first considered in his birth and the he is considered in his conflict with the Buddha, which was described in the Buddha’s biography. Next, the recognition and evaluation of samgha in the Vinayapitaka is analyzed. This will lead us the fact that Devadatta has two different layers: one is a symbolic aspect in the Buddha’s biography and the other is a factual aspect in the Vinayapitaka. The valuation of Devadatta is very important in comprehending the split of saṃha . The split was an internal event in Buddhisim It was at the same time is a historical event in the history of samgha . In this respect, It may be considered in both the religious and historical perspective. Therefore, the approach to Devadatta’s life may help us better understand the split of saṃha .