Mahādeva (Sanskrit: महादेव; Chinese: 大天; pinyin: Dàtiān) is a controversial figure who appears in various roles in the histories of the early Buddhist schools.
[1] According to this account, some 35 years after the Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali, there was another meeting over five points allegedly held by a figure named Mahādeva.
[3] In this account, the majority (Mahāsaṃgha) sided with Mahādeva, and the minority (Sthaviras) were opposed to it, thus causing a split in the Saṃgha.
[13] Jan Nattier and Charles Prebish state that Mahādeva was the later founder of the Caitikas, stating:[14] Mahādeva has nothing to do with the primary schism between the Mahāsāṃghikas and Sthaviras, emerging in a historical period considerably later than previously supposed, and taking his place in the sectarian movement by instigating an internal schism within the already existing Mahāsāṃghika school.Numerous legends about Mahādeva exist, all of which refer to the figure who supposedly caused the first schism in the Buddhist saṃgha.
The story of his transformation from a sinner of the worst kind to a learned monk was among the collection of tales relating to Buddhism, taken back to China by Xuanzang.
He then, in order to escape from the guilt ran away with his mother to a distant land and started life fresh.
Mahadeva decided to give his wretched life one more chance and approached the monk who was camping near Pataliputra.