Devadatta Devadatta Devadatta was by tradition a Buddhist monk, cousin and brother-in-law of Gautama Siddhārtha, the Sākyamuni Buddha, and brother of Ānanda, a principal student of the Buddha. Devadatta was a koliyan and sakyan and is said to have parted from the Buddha's following with 500 other monks to form their own Sangha, most of whom are said to have been Shakya clan relatives of both Devadatta and Siddhartha. The name "Devadatta" has the meaning "god-given" in Palī (cf. Latin "Deodatus", "Deusdedit"; both also meaning "god-given"). It is composed from the stem form of "deva" and the past participle "datta" of
Religious offense issued by a religious leader who was religiously offended by the work. Traditionally there are three uniquely religious offenses (acts which cause religious offense): Dogma is the belief that a religion necessarily only ever expresses divine truth. Any challenge to divine authority may be homologous to treason and attract similar serious punishment, typically the death penalty. More recently the term is used in modern laws which aim promote religious tolerance by forbidding 'hate crime' such as the British Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. To allow 'outsiders' to criticize a religion or its practice might appear to serve to weaken