Devadatta Buddha teaches that in a past life, Devadatta was his holy teacher who set him on the path, and makes a noteworthy statement about how even Devadatta will in time become a Buddha: In the Mahāmeghasūtra Devadatta is called a mahāpuruṣa (great being). 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.
Branded to Kill for it and several other Suzuki films. The release was one of three linked to the "Style to Kill" theatrical retrospective. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Suzuki's directorial debut, the film was included in the first of two six-film DVD box sets which was released October 1, 2006. All six titles included audio commentary tracks featuring Suzuki with various collaborators, those being Annu Mari and assistant director Masami Kuzū for "Branded to Kill". The first North American copy surfaced in the early 1990s at Kim's Video in New York in a video series titled "Dark of the Sun"