Another sage or rishi known as Asita Devala is sometimes confused with him in literary sources- this second Asita Devala was a sage from ancient times who was reborn as a disciple of the Buddha. This confusion may explain why in the Lalitavistara Sūtra there are two versions of Asita's prophecy- one where Asita visits Suddhodana as described in the Pali sources, and another where Asita is a hermit living in the Himalayas who never meets Suddhodana but perceives the birth of the Buddha due to his supernatural powers.
