This is how I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying on the Gijjhakuta Mountain near the city of Rājagaha not long after Devadatta rejected the Buddha’s instruction and left. Then, when the night was ending, brahma Sahampati, of stunning beauty, lighting the entire Gijjhakuta Mountain, went to the Blessed One, paid homage to the Blessed One, and stood to one side. Standing to one side, referring to Devadatta, brahma Sahampati recited this verse in the presence of the Blessed One:
“Indeed the banana tree makes fruit bringing destruction to the very tree itself. So too does the bamboo tree. The embryo descends into a mule’s womb bringing death to her. In the same way, honor given to an inferior person destroys him”
