[1] The accounts of his life vary greatly, but he is generally seen as an evil and divisive figure in Buddhism, who led a breakaway group in the earliest days of the religion.

According to this study, the earliest Vinaya material common to all sects simply depicts Devadatta as a Buddhist saint who wishes for the monks to live a rigorous lifestyle.

[4] However, as Bhikkhu Sujato has noted, the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya does indeed contain material depicting Devadatta as a schismatic figure trying to split the sangha (monastic community).

"[5] Faxian and other Chinese pilgrims who travelled to India in the early centuries of the current era recorded the continued existence of "Gotamaka" buddhists, followers of Devadatta.

[7] Cullavagga section VII of the Vinayapiṭaka of the Theravādins, which deals with schisms, recalls an account of how Devadatta went forth along with a number of the Buddha's other relatives and clansmen.

Having psychic power, he assumed the form of a young boy clad in snakes and sat in the prince's lap; this much impressed Ajātashatru, who became his disciple.

When told about the offerings that Devadatta was receiving, the Buddha remarked that all these gains were only going towards his destruction, just as a plantain or a bamboo is destroyed by its fruit.

In the Milinda Panha, a series of previous lives of Gautama Buddha and Devadatta are told by Nagasena to King Menander I.

The fact that I have attained impartial and correct enlightenment and can save living beings on a broad scale is all due to Devadatta who was a good friend.

"The Lotus Sutra may be interpreted as relaying the idea that Devadatta is not saved by the Buddha himself, but by his own merit, leading to his awakening.

"[17] In the Mahayana Buddhist text, the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra, Devadatta is said to have convinced Prince Ajātasattu to murder his father King Bimbisāra and ascend the throne.

Ajātasattu follows the advice, and this action (another anantarika-kamma for killing one's own father) prevents him from attaining stream-entry at a later time, when listening to some teaching of the Buddha.

[18] In Faxian's account, after meeting failure his attempts to murder Gautama Buddha through arrows, a rock and an elephant, Devadatta pretends to prostrate to his feet and claws at him with poisoned fingernails, but the Buddha turns his legs into rock crystal, causing Devadatta to break his nails and get poisoned himself.