1. Mahádatta. A thera of Ariyakotiya. He was once sitting at the foot of a tree to meditate, but because of the great power of his virtue, the children of the tree deity grew restless, and the deity tried to frighten him away but failed. She then appeared before the Thera, in disguise and told him of her trouble. He asked her to take her family somewhere else for that day only as he did not wish it to be thought that she had seared him away. MA.i.131.
2. Mahádatta Thera. An incumbent of Hankanaka who wrongly believed that he was an arahant because of the in-operation of the corruptions. Vsm.634; Vibhá.489.
3. Mahádatta. An Elder of Moravápi, an eminent commentator whose opinions are quoted in the Commentaries. E.g., DhSA. 230, 267, 284, 286; PSA. 405.
4. Mahádatta. A senápati. He was a follower of the bráhmanas, and at the moment of his death he saw before him a picture of hell. The brahmins who were round him asked him what he saw, and he said that he saw a house blood red in colour. They assured him that that was the Brahma world, but after death he was born in hell. MA.ii.803.