On the people his appearance and disputations with the Brahmans could hardly make any other impression than that he also was one of the philosophising penitents who wandered through the lands of the Ganges, teaching and begging, with or without disciples.[470] If the Brahmans persecuted Buddha, they called out to them: What would ye have?--he is a mendicant like yourselves! Buddha is said to have suffered the most severe persecution, when past his seventieth year, from Devadatta, a near relation. Even in youth the eager rival of Siddartha in martial exercises, Devadatta is said to have been filled with cruel envy by the success of Buddha's teaching. So he determined to appear as a teacher in Buddha's place, and for this object he united himself with Ajataçatru, the son of Bimbisara of Magadha. The latter was to murder his father, the protector of Buddha; Devadatta desired to assassinate Buddha himself, and then the two, by mutual support, would hold the first place. Devadatta assembled 500 disciples; Ajataçatru, in the year 551 B.C., dethroned his father, and according to the legends of the Buddhists caused him to die of starvation in a dungeon. After the death of his protector the Enlightened was to perish also. From the top of the vulture mountain near Rajagriha, Devadatta hurls a stone on Buddha as he passes by underneath; but he merely wounded him slightly on the toes; in vain is an elephant maddened with palm wine let loose upon Buddha, the raging animal kneels down before him. To escape these persecutions Buddha leaves Magadha and turns to Çravasti. Devadatta pursues him, in order to attack him afresh there, and destroy him by the poisoned nails of his fingers; but when he approaches Buddha he sinks into hell, while king Ajataçatru is converted, and from a persecutor of Buddha becomes a zealous protector of his doctrine.[471] This legend is obviously told in order to glorify the victorious sanctity of Buddha, nevertheless it contains a certain nucleus of history. At a very early time there was a division among the adherents of Buddha; the author and leader of this division was called Devadatta. Even in the seventh century A.D. there were monasteries in India which followed the doctrine and rules of Devadatta. Among the eight disciples of Buddha, according to the legends, Çariputra and Maudgalyayana, young Brahmans of the village of Nalanda near Rajagriha, took the first place. After these the sutras mention Kaçyapa a Brahman, Upali a Çudra, who had been a barber, _i.e._ who had carried on one of the lowest, most impure, and contemptible occupations before he followed Buddha, and two nephews of Buddha of the race of Çakya, Anuruddha and Ananda. Ananda is said to have accompanied Buddha for twenty-five years without interruption; to "have heard the most, and kept the best what he heard." After these, Nanda, a step-brother of Buddha, and Buddha's own son, Rahula, are mentioned in the first rank.