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held responsible for the actions of Venerable Devadatta. The Buddha had true foresight in this matter. Suspecting Venerable Devadatta
capable of harmful acts, he disavowed Venerable Devadatta’s relation to his sangha. But I do not wish to kill Venerable Devadatta either.
He is the Buddha’s own cousin and has been a respected bhikkhu for many years in the past.”
The second advisor exclaimed, “Your compassion has no equal, your Majesty! You are a worthy student of the Lord Buddha. But how
do you propose to deal with this matter?”
The king said, “Tomorrow I will let it be known to the people that I am abdicating the throne in favor of my son, Prince Ajatasattu. His
coronation can take place in ten days.”
“But what of his crime of attempted assassination?”
“I forgive both my son and Venerable Devadatta. Hopefully, they will learn something from my forgiveness.”
The two advisors bowed low to their king, as did Prince Ajatasattu. The king ordered the guards to keep the entire incident secret. The
next day, after hearing the king’s announcement, Venerable Devadatta hurriedly made his way to the capital. He requested an audience
with the prince. Later the prince told the queen that Venerable Devadatta had come to assist him in planning the coronation ceremony. But
all the queen knew was that two days after her son’s meeting with the bhikkhu, her husband and his two closest advisors were placed
under house arrest. Jivaka ended by saying, “Lord Buddha, I only pray that the prince will release the king and advisors after his coronation
has taken place.”
The next day, a royal messenger arrived with an invitation to the Buddha and his bhikkhus to attend the coronation ceremony. Soldiers
were already busy decorating the city gates and streets with flags and lanterns. The Buddha learned that Venerable Devadatta planned to
attend the ceremony accompanied by six hundred of his own bhikkhus. The Buddha summoned Venerable Sariputta and said, “Sariputta, I
will not attend the coronation ceremony. It is my wish that none of our bhikkhus attend, either. We cannot lend any sign of support to this
cruel and unjust affair.”
The absence of the Buddha and all his bhikkhus was blatantly noticeable on the day of the coronation, causing questions to rise in the
people’s minds. Before long, they learned the truth that King Bimbisara and his advisors had been placed under house arrest. There grew
among the people a quiet but steadfast resistance to the new regime. Although Venerable Devadatta called himself a leader, the people
began to notice differences between how his bhikkhus handled themselves and how the bhikkhus of the Buddha did. The people began to
refuse to give any food offerings to Devadatta’s followers. Their refusal to support Devadatta was simultaneously a condemnation of the
new king.
King Ajatasattu was infuriated when he was told of the people’s quiet refusal to lend him support. But he did not dare move against the
Buddha or his sangha, for he was wise enough to know that if he did so, a mighty protest would well up among the people, and from the
neighboring kingdoms, where the Buddha was held in great esteem. He knew that King Pasenadi of Kosala might even send soldiers if he
heard that the Buddha had been arrested or harmed in any way. The king summoned Venerable Devadatta for further counsel.