Devadatta had 30 marks of physical excellence, two less than the Buddha’s 32 marks. Namely, Devadatta did not have a curl of white hair in the middle of his forehead, nor did he have dharma-cakra on his soles. Afraid that his disciples might slight him due to the lack of these two marks, Devadatta pretended to have the white curl by putting a collection of fireflies on his forehead. He also had a hot iron in the shape of a chrysanthemum crest made by a blacksmith and branded his soles. Having burned his feet severely, Devadatta was near death when he sought help from the Buddha. When the Buddha passed His hand over the burns, Devadatta’s pain disappeared instantly. Without repenting for his sins, Devadatta instead slandered the Buddha saying that the art of medicine practiced by the Buddha is trickery; it must be magic. The Buddha does not bear a grudge against such an enemy as this. How could He abandon a person who puts faith in the Buddha even once? So venerable is the Buddha that we revere His wooden statues and portraits. It is said that the wooden statue of the Buddha made by King Udayana walked and that the portrait of the Buddha painted by Mātaṅga preached all the Buddhist scriptures.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 48