them Sakyas, are also frequently mentioned, especially the latter who became his personal attendant[359] and figures in the account of his illness and death as the beloved disciple to whom his last instructions were committed.  These two together with four other young Sakya nobles and Upali joined the order twenty-five years before Gotama’s death and perhaps formed an inner circle of trusted relatives, though we have no reason to think there was any friction between them and Brahmans like Sariputta.  Upali is said to have been barber of the Sakyas.  It is not easy to say what his social status may have been, but it probably did not preclude intimacy.

The Buddha was frequently occupied with maintaining peace and order among his disciples.  Though the profession of a monk excluded worldly advancement, it was held in great esteem and was hence adopted by ambitious and quarrelsome men who had no true vocation.  The troubles which arose in the Sangha are often ascribed in the Vinaya to the Chabbaggiyas, six brethren who became celebrated in tradition as spirits of mischief and who are evidently made the peg on which these old monkish anecdotes are hung.  As a rule the intervention of the Buddha was sufficient to restore peace, but one passage[360] indicates resistance to his authority.  The brethren quarrelled so often that the people said it was a public scandal.  The Buddha endeavoured to calm the disputants, but one of them replied, “Lord, let the Blessed One quietly enjoy the bliss which he has obtained in this life.  The responsibility for these quarrels will rest with us alone.”  This seems a clear hint that the Blessed One had better mind his own business.  Renewed injunctions and parables met with no better result.  “And the Blessed One thought” says the narrative “‘truly these fools are infatuated,’ and he rose from his seat and went away.”

Other troubles are mentioned but by far the most serious was the schism of Devadatta, represented as occurring in the old age of Gotama when he was about seventy-two.  The story as told in the Cullavagga[361] is embellished with supernatural incidents and seems not to observe the natural sequence of events but perhaps three features are historical:  namely that Devadatta wished to supersede the Buddha as head of the order, that he was the friend of Ajatasattu, Crown Prince and afterwards King of Magadha[362], and that he advocated a stricter rule of life than the Buddha chose to enforce.  This combination of piety and ambition is perhaps not unnatural.  He was a cousin of the Buddha and entered the order at the same time as Ananda and other young Sakya nobles.  Sprung from that quarrelsome breed he possessed in a distorted form some of Gotama’s own ability.  He is represented as publicly urging the Master to retire and dwell at ease but met with an absolute refusal.  Sariputta was directed to “proclaim” him in Rajagaha, the proclamation being to the effect that his nature had changed and