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.
Prasaṅgika according to Tsongkhapa follows: <poem>The words, "All things lack intrinsic nature," do not cause things to lack intrinsic nature, but, in the absence of intrinsic nature, they do make it understood that things lack intrinsic nature."</poem> This can be illustrated with the following paraphrased example found in the same text. If a person named Devadatta is not in the house, but someone says, "Devadatta is in the house." Then in order to show that Devadatta is not there, someone else will say, "Devadatta is not there." Those words do not cause Devadatta not to be there but allow the first person to understand