One day Buddha’s own brother, Devadatta, who had become his disciple, wanted Buddha to declare him his successor. Now, no buddha declares successors.
”I am giving you as much attention as everybody,” Buddha told Devadatta. ”You become a buddha, it is not a question of succession. I cannot declare you to be my successor. There are many enlightened disciples and you are not even enlightened.”
This hurt Devadatta very much. He dropped the commune. He was also a prince, and he had a small gang of followers in the commune. They also dropped with him. He was thinking to create another commune in which there would be no need for anybody to make him a successor, he would be the founder. But he could not gather people; he had no light in his eyes, no grace in his hands, no ecstasy in his heart. He was just hungry for prestige, power. Slowly slowly, those who had come with him also deserted him. Most of them went back to Buddha with apologies.
Being alone he became furious, almost mad. He wanted to kill Gautam Buddha, his own brother, and he tried.
Once Buddha was sitting on a rock meditating; Devadatta was hiding just behind him up a big hill,
and he rolled a big rock down the hill, directed towards Gautam Buddha. But Buddha knew about it & just as it was going to hit Buddha it changed its route, leaving Buddha alive.
Devadatta became very mad, he could not believe how the rock changed its course. Just one foot more and Buddha would have been crushed under it.
Devadatta’s father had a mad elephant who was always kept in chains. He was very dangerous. Criminals who had been sentenced to death were thrown near the cage of the mad elephant, and he immediately pulled them in, killed them and ate them. They were keeping that elephant just to kill the criminals.
Devadatta got the key and asked the man in whose control the elephant had grown up … Still, even in his madness, the elephant remembered him and always followed him.
Devadatta bribed the man and told him to take the elephant towards Buddha, who was meditating outside the city in a mango grove. The man took the mad elephant, who had killed many men; as they reached close to the mango grove his chains were removed. The man who controlled him took him directly to Gautam Buddha.
But the elephant came near Buddha; with his small eyes he looked at Buddha, and then, bending his knees, he touched Buddha’s feet with his head.
But Buddha not gets killed by any method because he was pure and enlightened one. Who was aware of his brother mind’ds thoughts. No one can be a successor of a buddha or who become a buddha is the successor of buddha.
