                                          
                   MAHA KASSAPA: FATHER OF THE SANGHA
                                          
                                   by
                            Hellmuth Hecker
                                          
          Revised and enlarged translation from the German by
                           Nyanaponika Thera
                                          
    Translated and adapted from //Wissen und Wandel// XXI, 6 (1975)
                           ISBN 955-24-0026-0

                   
                       Wheel Publication No. 345

              Copyright 1987, 1995 Buddhist Publication Society


                      BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
                      KANDY              Sri Lanka


                                 * * *


                         DharmaNet Edition 1995

              Transcription & Proofreading: Jane Yudelman
                        Formatting: John Bullitt

        This electronic edition is offered for free distribution
            via DharmaNet by arrangement with the publisher.

                        DharmaNet International
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  1. Kassapa's Early Years
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Among those of the Buddha's disciples who were closest to him, there 
  were two friends, Sariputta and Maha Moggallana, who were the chief 
  disciples of the Buddha, the exemplary pair of disciples. There were 
  also two brothers, Ananda and Anuruddha, who were likewise eminent 
  "Fathers of the Order." In between these two pairs stands a great 
  solitary figure, Pipphali Kassapa, who later was called Maha Kassapa, 
  Kassapa the Great, to distinguish him from the others of the Kassapa 
  clan, such as Kumara Kassapa and Uruvela Kassapa.
  
    After Sariputta and Maha Moggallana had passed away, predeceasing 
  the Buddha, it was Maha Kassapa who was held in greatest respect and 
  reverence in the Order. But even after the Buddha's passing away, Maha 
  Kassapa did not become the elected head of the Order of Monks, as it 
  had been the Buddha's express wish that there should not be a supreme 
  authoritative head of the Sangha. Shortly before his passing away, the 
  Buddha had said: "That which I have proclaimed and made known, Ananda, 
  as the Teaching and the Discipline (Dhamma-Vinaya), that shall be your 
  Master when I am gone" (D.16).
  
    Yet the natural authority emanating from Maha Kassapa made him 
  particularly honored and venerated in the Sangha. There were many 
  factors that contributed to his pre-eminent position after the death 
  of the Master. He had been praised by the Buddha as being equal to him 
  in many respects [*] and he shared with the Master seven of the 
  thirty-two "Marks of a Great Man." He had been the only monk with whom 
  the Buddha had exchanged robes. Maha Kassapa possessed to the highest 
  degree the ten "qualities that inspire confidence." [**]  He was also 
  a model of a disciplined and austere life devoted to meditation. So it 
  is no wonder that he was elected to preside over the First Council of 
  the Sangha which had been summoned on his urgent advice. It may have 
  been on account of all these features of his personality and his life 
  that, much later in China and Japan, Maha Kassapa came to be regarded 
  as the first patriarch of Ch'an or Zen Buddhism.
    
    
    [*] He had in common with the Buddha the attainment of the eight
        meditative absorptions and the six supernormal knowledges
        (//abhinna//), which include Arahatship.
    
    [**] According to the Gopaka-Moggallana Sutta (M.108), the ten
        qualities of a monk that inspire confidence
        (//pasadaniya-dhamma//) are: he is (1) virtuous, (2) learned,
        (3) content with his requisites, (4) can easily obtain the four
        jhanas; he possesses (5) the supernormal powers, (6) the divine
        ear, (7) penetration of the mind of others, (8) remembrance of
        former lives, (9) the divine eye, (10) destruction of taints,
        i.e. Arahatship.
  
  
  Like the two chief disciples, Sariputta and Maha Moggallana, Maha 
  Kassapa too descended from the brahmin caste, and again like them, he 
  was older than the Buddha. He was born in the Magadha country, in the 
  village Mahatittha, as the son of the brahmin Kapila and his wife 
  Sumanadevi. [*] He was called Pipphali. His father owned sixteen 
  villages over which he ruled like a little king, so Pipphali grew up 
  in the midst of wealth and luxury. Yet already in his young years 
  there was in him the wish to leave the worldly life behind, and hence 
  he did not want to marry. When his parents repeatedly urged him to 
  take a wife, he told them that he would look after them as long as 
  they live, but that after their deaths he wanted to become an ascetic. 
  Yet they insisted again and again that he take a wife, so to comfort 
  his mother he finally agreed to marry -- on the condition that a girl 
  could be found who conformed to his idea of perfection. For that 
  purpose he shaped a golden statue of a beautiful woman, had it 
  bedecked with fine garments and ornaments, and showed it to his 
  parents, saying: "If you can find a woman like this for me, I shall 
  remain in the home life." His parents approached eight brahmins, 
  showered them with rich gifts, and asked them to take the image with 
  them and travel around in search of a human likeness of it. The 
  brahmins thought: "Let us first go to the Madda country, which is, as 
  it were, a gold mine of beautiful women." There they found at Sagala a 
  girl whose beauty equaled that of the image. She was Bhadda Kapilani, 
  a wealthy brahmin's daughter, aged sixteen, four years younger than 
  Pipphali Kassapa. Her parents agreed to the marriage proposal, and the 
  brahmins returned to tell of their success. Yet Bhadda Kapilani also 
  did not wish to marry, as it was her wish, too, to live a religious 
  life as a female ascetic. Such identity between her aspiration and 
  Pipphali Kassapa's may well point to a kammic bond and affinity 
  between them in the past, maturing in their present life and leading 
  to a decisive meeting between them and a still more decisive 
  separation later on.
  
    [*] This account of Maha Kassapa's early life is taken from the
        commentary to the Samyutta Nikaya.
  
  
    When Pipphali heard that what he had thought most unlikely had 
  actually occurred, he was -- unhappy and sent the following letter to 
  the girl: "Bhadda, please marry someone else of equal status and live 
  a happy home life with him. As for myself, I shall become an ascetic. 
  Please do not have regrets." Bhadda Kapilani, like-minded as she was, 
  independently sent him a similar letter. But their parents, suspecting 
  such an exchange would take place, had both letters intercepted on the 
  way and replaced by letters of welcome.
    
    So Bhadda was taken to Magadha and the young couple were married. 
  However, in accordance with their ascetic yearning, both agreed to 
  maintain a life of celibacy. To give expression to their resolve, they 
  would lay a garland of flowers between them before they went to bed, 
  determined not to yield to sensual desire.
    
    This young wealthy couple lived thus happily and in comfort for many 
  years. As long as Pipphali's parents lived, they did not even have to 
  look after the estate's farms. But when his parents died, they took 
  charge of the large property.
  
    One day, however, when Pipphali Kassapa was inspecting the fields, 
  it happened that he saw, as if with new eyes, what he had seen so 
  often before. He observed that when his people plowed, many birds 
  gathered and eagerly picked the worms from the furrows. This sight, so 
  common to a farmer, now startled him. It now struck him forcefully 
  that what brought him his wealth, the produce of his fields, was bound 
  up with the suffering of other living beings. His livelihood was 
  purchased with the death of so many worms and other little creatures 
  living in the soil. Thinking about this, he asked one of his laborers: 
  "Who will have to bear the consequences of such an action?" -- "You 
  yourself, sir," was the answer. [*]
  
    [*] It should be noted that the reply of the laborers does not fully
        accord with the Buddhist understanding of kamma. According to
        the Buddha kamma is constituted by volition, and where volition
        to take life is absent there is neither the kamma of taking life
        nor moral responsibility for the death of those who die through
        actions outside one's sphere of volitional control.
    
    
    Shaken by that insight into kammic retribution, he went home and 
  reflected: "If I have to carry along the burden of guilt for that 
  killing, what use is all that wealth to me? It will be better if I 
  give it all to Bhadda and go forth into the ascetic's life."
    
    But at home, at about the same time, his wife had a similar 
  experience. She too saw afresh with a deeper understanding what she 
  had very often seen before. Sesamum seeds had been spread out in the 
  open to dry, and crows and other birds ate the insects that had been 
  attracted by the seeds. When Bhadda asked her servants who it was that 
  had to account morally for the violent death of so many creatures, she 
  was told that the kammic responsibility was hers. Then she thought: 
  "If even by that much I commit a wrong, I won't be able to lift my 
  head above the ocean of rebirths, even in a thousand lives. As soon as 
  Pipphali returns, I shall hand over everything to him and leave to 
  take up the ascetic life."
    
    When both found themselves of one accord, they had pale-yellow cloth 
  and clay bowls brought for them from the bazaar, and then shaved each 
  other's head. They thus became like ascetic wanderers, and they made 
  the aspiration: "Those who are Arahats in the world, to them we 
  dedicate our going forth!" Slinging their almsbowls over their 
  shoulders, they left the estate's manor, unnoticed by the house 
  servants. But when they reached the next village, which belonged to 
  the estate, the laborers and their families saw them. Crying and 
  lamenting, they fell to the feet of the two ascetics and exclaimed: 
  "Oh, dear and noble ones! Why do you want to make us helpless 
  orphans?" -- "It is because we have seen the three worlds to be like a 
  house afire, therefore we go forth into the homeless life." To those 
  who were serfs, Pipphali Kassapa granted their freedom, and he and 
  Bhadda continued on their road. leaving the villagers behind still 
  weeping.
  
  When walking on, Kassapa went ahead while Bhadda followed behind him. 
  Considering this, Kassapa thought: "Now, this Bhadda Kapilani follows 
  me close behind, and she is a woman of great beauty. Some people - 
  could easily think, 'Though they are ascetics, they still cannot live 
  without each other! It is unseemly what they are doing.' If they spoil 
  their minds by such wrong thoughts or even spread false rumors, they 
  will cause harm to themselves." So he thought it better that they 
  separate. When they reached a crossroads Kassapa said: "Bhadda, you 
  take one of these roads, and I shall go the other way." She said: "It 
  is true, for ascetics a woman is an obstacle. People might think and 
  speak badly about us. So please go your own way, and we shall now 
  part." She then respectfully circumambulated him thrice, saluted him 
  at his feet, and with folded hands she spoke: "Our close companionship 
  and friendship that had lasted for an unfathomable past [*] comes to 
  an end today. Please take the path to the right and I shall take the 
  other road." Thus they parted and went their individual ways, seeking 
  the high goal of Arahatship, final deliverance from suffering. It is 
  said that the earth, shaken by the power of their virtue, quaked and 
  trembled.
  
    [*] Lit.: 100,000 //kalpas//.
    
    
  
  
  2. Bhadda Kapilani
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Let us first follow Bhadda Kapilani. Her road led her to Savatthi 
  where she listened to the Buddha's discourses at the Jetavana 
  monastery. As the Order of Nuns (Bhikkhuni Sangha) did not yet exist 
  at that time, she took up residence at a nunnery of non-Buddhist 
  female ascetics, not far from the Jetavana. There she lived for five 
  years until she could obtain ordination as a bhikkhuni. It was not 
  long afterward that she was able to attain to the goal of the holy 
  life, Arahatship or Sainthood. One day she uttered the following 
  verses in praise of Maha Kassapa and declaring her own attainment:
    
       Son of the Buddha and his heir is he,
       Great Kassapa -- his mind serene, collected.
       Vision of previous lives is his,
       Heaven and hell he penetrates.
       
       The ceasing of rebirth he has obtained,
       And supernormal knowledge he has mastered.
       With these three knowledges possessed by him
       He is a brahmin true, of threefold knowledge.
       
       So has she, too, Bhadda the Kapilani, gained for herself
       The threefold knowledge and has vanquished death.
       Having bravely vanquished Mara and his host,
       It is the last formation of a body that she bears.
       
       Seeing the world's deep misery, we both went forth
       And are now both free of cankers, with well-tamed minds.
       Cooled of passions, we have found deliverance;
       Cooled of passions, we have found our freedom.
  
                                -- Thig. 63-66
  
  
    As an Arahat bhikkhuni, Bhadda devoted herself chiefly to the 
  education of the younger nuns and their instruction in monastic 
  discipline (Vinaya). In the Analysis of Nuns' Discipline (Bhikkhuni 
  Vibhanga), instances are recorded involving her pupils which led to 
  the prescribing of certain disciplinary rules for bhikkhunis. [*] 
  There were also two instances when Bhadda Kapilani had to bear the 
  envy of another nun who was hostile towards Maha Kassapa, too. The nun 
  Thullananda was learned in the Dhamma and a good preacher, but 
  evidently she had more intelligence than gentleness of heart. She was 
  self-willed and not prepared to change her conduct, as evidenced by 
  several Vinaya texts. When Bhadda, too, became a popular preacher of 
  Dhamma, even preferred by some of Thullananda's own pupils, 
  Thullananda became jealous. In order to annoy Bhadda, once she and her 
  pupil nuns walked up and down in front of Bhadda's cell, reciting 
  loudly. She was censured by the Buddha on that account. [**] Another 
  time, at Bhadda's request, she had arranged temporary living quarters 
  for Bhadda when the latter visited Savatthi. But then, in another fit 
  of jealousy, she threw her out of those quarters.[***] Bhadda, 
  however, being an Arahat, was no longer affected by such happenings 
  and looked at them with detachment and compassion.
  
    [*] //Bhikkhuni Vibh., Sanghadisesa l; Pacittiya 10, 12, 13//.
    [**] //Bhikkhuni Vibh., Pacittiya 33//.
    [***] //Bhikkhuni Vibh., Pacittiya 35//.
    
    The Buddha praised Bhadda as being the foremost among the nuns who 
  could recollect past lives (Anguttara, Ones). The Pali commentaries 
  and the Jataka stories leave us a record of some of her former lives 
  in which she had been Kassapa's wife.
  
  
  
  
  3. Past Lives of Kassapa and Bhadda Kapilani
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  At the time of the former Buddha Vipassi, they had been a poor brahmin 
  couple. They were so extremely poor that they had only one single 
  upper garment, and hence only one of them at a time could go out of 
  their hut. In the record of this story, the brahmin was therefore 
  called "he with one garment" (//ekasataka//). Though it may not be 
  easy for us to understand such extreme poverty, it will be still more 
  difficult to understand that there have been many people for whom that 
  utter poverty did not mean subjective, personal suffering. This was so 
  with those two beings who later were to be Kassapa and Bhadda. In 
  their life as that poor brahmin couple, they had lived in such perfect 
  harmony that it was easier for them to bear their poverty. Both, one 
  after the other, had listened to the sermons of the Buddha Vipassi. 
  Through that Buddha's teaching, the value of giving and generosity 
  became so deeply impressed on the mind of that brahmin that he wanted 
  to offer his only upper garment to the Order of Monks. But after he 
  had so resolved, scruples came to his mind. As it was his and his 
  wife's only upper garment, he thought that he should first consult his 
  wife. How could they manage if they had no upper garment at all? But 
  he resolutely pushed aside all such hesitation and offered the garment 
  to the monks. Having done so, he clapped his hands and joyfully called 
  out: "I have vanquished! I have vanquished!"
  
    When the king, who had listened to the Buddha Vipassi's sermon 
  behind a curtain, heard that shout of victory and learned its reason, 
  he sent sets of garments to the brahmin and later made him his court 
  chaplain. So the couple's plight had come to an end.
    
    As a result of his selfless giving, the brahmin was reborn in a 
  celestial world. After parting from there he became a king on earth, a 
  great benefactor of his people who generously supported ascetics and 
  among them also the Paccekabuddhas living at that time. Bhadda was 
  then his chief queen.
    
    As to Bhadda, she was once the mother of a brahmin youth who was a 
  pupil of the Bodhisatta (the future Buddha) and wanted to become an 
  ascetic. Kassapa was her husband, Ananda her son. Bhadda had wanted 
  her son to know the worldly life before she would permit him to become 
  an ascetic. But that knowledge and lesson came to the young brahmin in 
  a very thorough and drastic way. His teacher's mother fell 
  passionately in love with him and was even ready to kill her son. This 
  encounter with reckless passion caused in him a deep revulsion for 
  worldly life, a thorough disgust with it. After that experience his 
  parents gave him permission to go forth as an ascetic (J. 61).
    
    Again, another time Kassapa and Bhadda had been the brahmin parents 
  of four sons who in the future were to be our Bodhisatta, Anuruddha, 
  Sariputta and Maha Moggallana. All four wanted to become ascetics. At 
  first the parents refused permission, but later they came to 
  understand the fruits and benefits of the ascetic life, and they 
  themselves became ascetics (J. 509).
    
    In still another life, two village headmen who were friends decided 
  that if the children that they were expecting were to be of the 
  opposite sex, they should marry. And so it happened. But in their 
  previous life both children had been deities of the Brahma-world. 
  Hence they had no desire for sensual pleasures and, with their 
  parents' permission, chose the ascetic life (J. 540).
    
    Bhadda's only wrong act reported in the stories of her past lives 
  was this: At a time between the appearance of Buddhas of the past, 
  when only Paccekabuddhas lived, Bhadda was the wife of a landowner. 
  One day, having quarreled with her sister-in-law, she begrudged her 
  the merit of offering almsfood to a Paccekabuddha who was on 
  almsround. She took the Paccekabuddha's bowl and filled it with mud. 
  But at once she felt remorse, took the bowl back, washed it, filled it 
  with delicious and fragrant food and offered it to the Paccekabuddha.
    
    In her next life she possessed wealth and great beauty, but her body 
  exuded a loathsome odor. Her husband, who later was to be Kassapa, 
  could not bear the noxious smell and left her. As she was beautiful, 
  she had other suitors, but all her later marriages had the same end. 
  She was full of despair and no longer saw any meaning in her life. 
  Preparing to dispose of her property, she had her ornaments melted 
  down and formed into a golden brick. Taking that golden brick with 
  her, she went to the monastery where a stupa was being erected in 
  honor of the Buddha Kassapa, who had just passed away. For the 
  completion of the stupa she offered that golden brick with great 
  devotion. After she had done that, her body became fragrant again, and 
  her first husband, Kassapa, took her back.
    
    Two lives before her present existence, Bhadda was queen of Benares 
  and used to support several Paccekabuddhas. Deeply moved by their 
  sudden death, she renounced her worldly life as a queen and lived a 
  meditative life in the Himalayas. By the power of her renunciation and 
  her meditative attainments, she was reborn in a Brahma-world, and so 
  was Kassapa. After the end of the long life-span in the Brahma-world, 
  both were reborn in the human world, in a brahmin family, and were 
  named Pipphali Kassapa and Bhadda Kapilani.
    
    From these accounts we gather that in their former existences both 
  had lived a life of purity in the Brahma-worlds and that both had 
  repeatedly been ascetic renunciates. Hence, in their final existence, 
  it was not difficult for them to keep to a life of celibacy, to give 
  up all possessions, and to follow the Buddha's teaching up to its 
  culmination in Arahatship.
  
  
  
  
  4. How Kassapa Came to the Buddha
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Continuing our story, we shall now return to Maha Kassapa. Where did 
  he go after he had come to the crossroads? Tradition says that when 
  the two separated, the earth shook by the force of the great virtue in 
  their act of renunciation. The Buddha perceived this trembling of the 
  earth, and he thus knew that an outstanding disciple was on the way to 
  him. He then set out on the road himself, walking the distance of five 
  miles to meet his future pupil -- an act of compassion which later was 
  often praised (J. 469, Introd.).
  
    On the road between Rajagaha and Nalanda, the Master sat down under 
  a fig tree, waiting for his future disciple. When Kassapa arrived at 
  the spot and saw the radiance of the Buddha's countenance, [*] sensing 
  the enlightenment that shone through it, he thought, "This must be my 
  Master for whose sake I have gone forth!" He approached the Buddha, 
  and paying homage, fell at his feet and exclaimed: "The Exalted One, 
  Lord, is my teacher, and I am his disciple!"
    
    [*] The Commentary speaks here of the Buddha's aura and also says
        that the thirty-two "Marks of a Great Man" had become visible to
        Kassapa.
    
    
    The Master said: "Sit down, Kassapa. I shall give you your 
  heritage." He then gave the following three exhortations:
  
       "You should train yourself thus, Kassapa: 'A keen sense of shame 
       and fear of wrong-doing (//hiri-ottappa//) shall be present in me 
       towards seniors, novices, and those of middle status in the 
       Order.
       
       "'Whatever teaching I hear that is conducive to something 
       wholesome, I shall listen to with an attentive ear, examining it, 
       reflecting on it, absorbing it with all my heart.
       
       "'Mindfulness of the body linked with gladness shall not be 
       neglected by me!' Thus should you train yourself."
       
  
    Then both Master and disciple walked towards Rajagaha. On the way, 
  the Buddha wanted to rest and went off the road to the root of a tree. 
  Maha Kassapa then folded his double-robe fourfold and requested the 
  Master to sit on it as this would bring him, Kassapa, much benefit for 
  a long time. The Buddha sat down on Kassapa's robe and said: "Soft is 
  your robe of patched cloth, Kassapa." Hearing this, Kassapa replied: 
  "May the Blessed One, O Lord, accept this robe of patched cloth out of 
  compassion for me!" -- "But, Kassapa, can you wear these hempen, 
  worn-out rag-robes of mine?" Full of joy, Kassapa said: "Certainly, 
  Lord, I can wear the Blessed One's rough and worn-out rag-robes."
    
    This exchange of robes can be regarded as a great distinction 
  bestowed on Kassapa, an honor which was not shared by any other 
  disciple. By that exchange of robes the Buddha may have intended to 
  motivate Kassapa to observe some other "austere practices" 
  (//dhutanga//) as for instance, wearing only the triple set of robes, 
  going for alms and not omitting any houses on the almsround. This 
  would be a mode of conduct in conformity with wearing the Buddha's 
  patched rag-robes. Thus the commentator says. However, the Buddha's 
  offer may have been a quite spontaneous act in response to his being 
  offered Kassapa's robe.
  
    Kassapa, indeed, actually took upon himself those thirteen austere 
  practices allowed by the Buddha for the purpose of cultivating 
  contentedness, renunciation, and energy. [*] On a later occasion, 
  Kassapa was said by the Buddha to be foremost among the bhikkhus who 
  observed the austere practices (Anguttara, Ones). Kassapa's circle of 
  personal disciples was also devoted to these practices.
  
    [*] See Nyanatiloka, //Buddhist Dictionary//, q.v. //dhutanga//.
    
    
    It was only seven days after his ordination and the exchange of 
  robes that Kassapa attained the goal he was striving for, Arahatship, 
  the mind's final liberation from defilements. Recounting this episode 
  to Ananda at a much later time, he declared: "For seven days, friend, 
  I ate the almsfood of the country as one unliberated, then on the 
  eighth day the final knowledge of Arahatship arose in me" (S. 16:11).
  
  
  
  
  5. Kassapa's Relationship to the Buddha
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  The earlier account has already shown that there was a deep inner 
  relationship between Kassapa and the Buddha. This relationship had its 
  root in their past lives. According to the Jataka stories, Kassapa was 
  connected with the Bodhisatta in nineteen existences, frequently 
  through a close family bond. No less than six times Kassapa had been 
  the Bodhisatta's father (J. 155, 432, 509, 513, 524, 540), twice he 
  was his brother (J,488, 522), and often his friend or teacher. As it 
  was thus not their first meeting, we can understand why such an 
  immediate and strong devotion and wholehearted dedication towards the 
  Buddha arose in Kassapa's heart at the first sight of the Master.
  
    From Kassapa's final life, many conversations are reported between 
  the Buddha and this great disciple. It happened on three occasions 
  that the Master spoke to him: "Exhort the monks, Kassapa. Give them a 
  discourse on the Dhamma, Kassapa. Either I, Kassapa, should exhort the 
  monks, or you. Either I or you should give them a discourse on the 
  Dhamma"(S. 16:6).These words imply a high recognition of Kassapa's 
  ability, because not every Arahat has the capacity to expound the 
  Teaching well and effectively.
    
    The commentary raises here the question why it was Kassapa who was 
  placed by the Buddha on an equal footing in this respect, and not 
  Sariputta and Maha Moggallana. The Buddha did so, says the commentary, 
  because he knew that Sariputta and Maha Moggallana would not survive 
  him, but Kassapa would. It could also be that both Sariputta and Maha 
  Moggallana were no longer alive at that time.
    
    Though the Buddha had highly praised Kassapa's ability as an 
  exponent of the Dhamma, there were three occasions when Kassapa 
  hesitated to instruct the monks after being asked by the Buddha to do 
  so. He did not refuse because he wanted to avoid the effort and 
  distraction of teaching, but because he found that those particular 
  young monks were unresponsive to his admonitions.
    
    In the first of the three instances, Kassapa said that it had now 
  become difficult to speak to some of the monks; they were not amenable 
  to advice, were intractable, and did not accept admonitions with 
  respect. He had also heard that two monks boasted of their skill in 
  preaching, saying: "Come, let us see who will preach more profusely, 
  more beautifully, and at greater length!" When the Buddha was informed 
  about this by Kassapa, he had these monks summoned and brought them 
  back to reason, making them give up their immature conceit (S. 16:6). 
  Hence we can see that Kassapa's negative report turned out to be of 
  benefit to those monks. It was not done just for criticizing others.
    
    On the second occasion, too, Kassapa did not wish to instruct monks 
  who were not amenable to admonishment, who lacked faith in the good, 
  who lacked shame and fear of wrong-doing, who lacked energy and 
  understanding as to the good.
    
    This was a statement in general about a certain section of the 
  monks, without reference of individuals. Of these monks Kassapa said 
  further that, in their state of decline, they are like the waning moon 
  that daily loses in beauty (confidence), in roundness (shame), in 
  splendor (fear of wrong-doing), in height (energy), and in width 
  (wisdom) (S.16:7).
  
    Also on a third occasion the Buddha asked Kassapa to instruct the 
  monks, and Kassapa expressed his reluctance for the same reason as 
  before. It seems that this time, too, the Buddha did not urge Kassapa 
  to change his mind and admonish the monks, but he himself spoke of the 
  reasons for their conduct:
  
       "Formerly, Kassapa, there were elders of the Order who were 
       forest-dwellers, - living on almsfood, wearing rag-robes, using 
       only the threefold set of robes, having few wants and being 
       contented, living secluded and aloof from society, energetic, and 
       they praised and encouraged such a way of life. When such elders 
       or younger bhikkhus visited a monastery, they were gladly 
       welcomed and honored as being dedicated to the practice of the 
       Dhamma. Then those who thus welcomed and honored those noble 
       monks would also strive to emulate them in their ways of life, 
       and this would be of great benefit to them for a long time.
       
       "But nowadays, Kassapa, those who are honored when visiting a 
       monastery are not monks of austere and earnest life, but those 
       who are well known and popular and are amply provided with the 
       requisites of a monk. These are made welcome and honored, and 
       their hosts try to emulate them, which will bring them harm for a 
       long time. Hence one will be right in saying that such monks are 
       harmed and overpowered by what does harm to a monk's life."
       
                                -- Paraphrased from S.16:8
  
  
    On another occasion, Kassapa asked the Buddha: "What is the reason 
  that formerly there were fewer rules, but more monks were established 
  in the knowledge of Arahatship, while now there are more rules, but 
  fewer monks are established in the knowledge of Arahatship?" The 
  Buddha replied:
  
       "So it happens, Kassapa, when beings deteriorate and the true 
       Dhamma vanishes: then there are more rules and fewer Arahats. 
       There will be, however, no vanishing of the true Dhamma until a 
       sham Dhamma arises in the world. But when a sham Dhamma arises in 
       the world, there will be more rules and fewer Arahats.
       
       "But, Kassapa, it is not a cataclysm of the four elements -- 
       earth, water, fire and air -- that makes the Dhamma disappear. 
       Nor is the reason for its disappearance similar to the 
       overloading of a ship that causes it to sink. It is rather the 
       presence of five detrimental attitudes that causes the 
       obscuration and disappearance of the Dhamma.
       
       "These are the five: it is the lack of respect and regard for the 
       Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the training, and for meditative 
       concentration, on the part of monks and nuns, and male and female 
       lay devotees. But so long as there is respect and regard for 
       those five things, the Dhamma will remain free of obscuration and 
       will not disappear."
                                -- S.16:13
   
   
    It deserves to be noted that, according to this text, the male and 
  female lay followers are also preservers of the Dhamma. We may 
  conclude from this that even when the Dhamma has come to oblivion 
  among the monks, it will still remain alive when honored and practiced 
  by the laity.
    
    Other discourses in the Kassapa Samyutta deal chiefly with Maha 
  Kassapa's austere way of life, which was highly praised and commended 
  by the Buddha. But on one occasion the Buddha reminded Kassapa that he 
  had now grown old, and that he must find his coarse, worn-out 
  rag-robes irksome to use. Therefore, the Buddha suggested, he should 
  now wear robes offered by householders, accept also their invitations 
  for alms offerings, and live near him. But Kassapa replied: "For along 
  time I have been a forest-dweller, going the almsround, and wearing 
  rag-robes; and such a life I have commended to others. I have had few 
  wants, lived contented, secluded, applying strenuous energy; and that 
  too I have commended to others."
    
    The Buddha asked: "But for what reason do you live so?" Kassapa 
  replied that he had two reasons: his own well being here and now, and 
  his compassion for later generations which, when hearing about such a 
  life, would emulate it. Then the Buddha said: "Well spoken, Kassapa, 
  well spoken! You have lived for the happiness of many, out of 
  compassion for the world, for the benefit and welfare of gods and men. 
  You may then keep to your coarse rag-robes, go out for alms, and live 
  in the forest " (S.16.5).
    
    "This our Kassapa," said the Buddha, "is satisfied with whatever 
  robes, almsfood, lodging, and medicine he obtains. For the sake of 
  these he will not do anything that is unbefitting for a monk. If he 
  does not obtain any of these requisites, he is not perturbed; and when 
  he obtains them, he makes use of them without clinging or infatuation, 
  not committing any fault, aware of (possible) dangers and knowing them 
  as an escape (from bodily affliction). By the example of Kassapa, or 
  by one who equals him, I will exhort you, monks. Thus admonished, you 
  should practice in the same way" (S.16: 1).
    
    The Buddha also mentioned that Kassapa was likewise exemplary in his 
  relation to the laity. When going among the families on his almsround 
  or on invitation, he did not think wishfully that people may give 
  amply and give things of quality, that they may give quickly and 
  respectfully. He had no such thoughts, but remained detached like the 
  moon that sheds its mild light from a distance.
    
       "When Kassapa goes among families, his mind is not attached, not 
       caught up, not fettered. He rather thinks: 'Let those who want 
       gain acquire gain! Let those who want merit do merit!' He is 
       pleased and glad at the gains of others, just as he is pleased 
       and glad at his own gains. Such a monk is fit to go among 
       families.
       
       "When he preaches the doctrine, he will not do so for the sake of 
       personal recognition and praise, but for letting them know the 
       Teaching of the Exalted One, so that those who hear it may accept 
       it and practice accordingly. He will preach because of the 
       excellence of the Teaching and out of compassion and sympathy."
                                
                                -- Paraphrased from S.16:3,4
    
    
    But the strongest recognition of Maha Kassapa's achievement, the 
  highest praise given him by the Buddha, may be found in a sutta where 
  it is said that Maha Kassapa could attain at will, just like the 
  Buddha himself, the four fine-material and the four immaterial 
  meditative absorptions, the cessation of perception and feeling, and 
  could also attain the six supernormal knowledges (//abhinna//), which 
  include the supernormal powers and culminate in the attainment of 
  Nibbana (S.16:9). Here his powerful meditative achievements, equaling 
  those of the Buddha, appear as a characteristic trait of Maha 
  Kassapa's mind. It was because of that deep meditative calm that he 
  could adapt himself, unperturbed, to all external situations and live 
  as one of few wants, materially and socially.
    
    In his verses preserved in the "Verses of the Elders" 
  (//Theragatha//) Maha Kassapa praises again and again the peace of the 
  jhanas (meditative absorptions). He was one who went from abundance to 
  abundance. In his lay life he had lived in the abundance of wealth and 
  harmony. As a monk he dwelt in the abundance of jhanic experience, 
  furthered by his former life in the Brahma-world. While in some of the 
  texts he appears to be very severe, this should not lead us to believe 
  that he was harsh by nature. When he occasionally rebuked others in 
  stem words, he did so for pedagogical reasons in order to help them. 
  This we shall see especially when we deal with his relationship to 
  Ananda.
  
  
  
  
  6. Encounters with Deities
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Two meetings of Maha Kassapa with deities of lower or higher order 
  have been recorded. They are related here because they illustrate his 
  independence of spirit and his determination to keep to his austere 
  way of living without accepting privileges from wherever they were 
  offered.
    
    There was a young female deity, called Laja, who remembered that she 
  had obtained her present celestial happiness because in her previous 
  human existence as a poor woman, she had offered parched rice to the 
  Elder Maha Kassapa with a believing heart, uttering the aspiration: 
  "May I be a partaker of the truth you have seen!" On her way home, 
  while reflecting on her offering, she was bitten by a snake and died, 
  and was immediately reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-three gods, in 
  the midst of great splendor.
    
    This the deity, remembered, and in her gratitude she wanted now to 
  serve the great Elder. Descending to earth, she swept the Elder's cell 
  and filled the water vessels. After she had done that for three days, 
  the Elder saw her radiant figure in his cell, and after questioning 
  her, asked her to leave as he did not wish that monks of the future, 
  knowing of it, should disapprove of him. His entreaties were of no 
  avail; the deity rose into the air, filled with great sadness. The 
  Buddha, aware of what had happened, appeared to the deity and consoled 
  her by speaking of the worth of meritorious deeds and their great 
  reward. But he also said that it had been Kassapa's duty to practice 
  restraint (Commentary to Dh. 118).
    
    In the other story it is told that Maha Kassapa, while living at the 
  Pipphali Cave, had entered a period of seven days' uninterrupted 
  meditation, spending the time in unbroken meditative posture. At the 
  end of that period, after arising from that meditation, he went to 
  Rajagaha on almsround. At that time there arose in five hundred female 
  deities of Sakka's celestial realm the keen desire to offer almsfood 
  to the venerable Maha Kassapa. With. the food prepared, they 
  approached the Elder, asking for his favor by accepting their 
  offering. But he asked them to leave as he wanted to bestow his favor 
  on the poor so that they could benefit from their meritorious deed. As 
  he did not yield to their repeated entreaties, they finally left. When 
  Sakka, king of the gods, heard about their vain effort, a great desire 
  arose in him as well to offer almsfood to that great Elder. To avoid 
  being refused, he turned himself into an old weaver. When Maha Kassapa 
  approached, he offered rice to him, and at the moment the rice was 
  accepted it turned exceedingly fragrant. Then Maha Kassapa knew who 
  this old weaver truly was, and he reproached Sakka: "You have done a 
  grievous wrong, Kosiya. By doing so, you have deprived poor people of 
  the chance to acquire merit. Do not do such a thing again!" -- "We too 
  need merit, revered Kassapa! We too are in need of it! But have I 
  acquired merit or not by giving alms to you through deception?" -- 
  "You have gained merit, friend. Now Sakka, while departing, gave voice 
  to the following "Solemn Utterance" (//udana//):
  
       "Oh, almsgiving! Highest almsgiving!
       Well bestowed on Kassapa!"
                                -- Comy. to Dh. 56; see Udana, 3:7
  
  
  
  
  7. Relations to Pupils and Fellow Monks
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  One so very dedicated to the meditative life as Maha Kassapa was 
  cannot be expected to have been keen on accepting and training many 
  pupils; and, in fact, the canonical texts mention only a few pupils of 
  his.
  
    One of Kassapa's few recorded discourses addressed to the monks 
  deals with the subject of overestimating one's attainments:
  
       "There may be a monk who declares he has attained to the highest 
       knowledge, that of Arahatship. Then the Master, or a disciple 
       capable of knowing the minds of others, examines and questions 
       him. When they question him, that monk becomes embarrassed and 
       confused. The questioner now understands that the monk has made 
       this declaration through overrating himself out of conceit. Then, 
       considering the reason for it, he sees that this monk has 
       acquired much knowledge of the Teaching and proficiency in it, 
       which made him declare his overestimation of himself to be the 
       truth. Penetrating the mind of that monk, he sees that he is 
       still obstructed by the five hindrances and has stopped half-way 
       while there is still more to do."
                                -- A.10:86
    
    Apart from the few instances where Maha Kassapa is speaking to 
  unnamed monks or a group of monks, the texts record only his 
  relationship to Sariputta and Ananda.
    
    According to the Jatakas, in former lives Sariputta was twice the 
  son of Kassapa (J.509,515) and twice the brother of Kassapa 
  (J.326,488); he was once also Kassapa's grandson (J.450) and his 
  friend (J.525). In his verses, Kassapa tells that he once saw 
  thousands of Brahma-gods descend from their heaven, pay homage to 
  Sariputta, and praise him (Thag. 1082- 1086).
    
    Two conversations between Maha Kassapa and Sariputta have been 
  recorded in the Kassapa Samyutta. On both occasions it was at evening 
  time, after meditation, that the venerable Sariputta went to see the 
  venerable Maha Kassapa.
    
    In the first text Sariputta asked: "It has been said, friend 
  Kassapa, that without ardor and without fear of wrongdoing, one is 
  incapable of gaining enlightenment, incapable of attaining Nibbana, 
  incapable of attaining highest security, but that with ardor and with 
  fear of wrong-doing, one is capable of such attainments. Now in how 
  far is he incapable of such attainments and in how far is he capable 
  of them?"
  
       "When, friend Sariputta, a monk thinks: 'If bad and unwholesome 
       states that have so far not arisen in me were to arise, this 
       would bring me harm,' and if then he does not arouse ardor and 
       fear of wrongdoing, then he is lacking ardor and fear of wrong 
       doing. When he thinks: 'If bad and unwholesome states that have 
       arisen now in me are not abandoned, this would bring me harm,' 
       or: 'If unarisen wholesome states were not to arise, this would 
       bring me harm,' or: 'If arisen wholesome states were to vanish, 
       this would bring me harm,' if on these occasions, too, a monk 
       does not arouse ardor and fear of wrong-doing, then he is lacking 
       these qualities, and lacking them, he is incapable of attaining 
       enlightenment, incapable of attaining Nibbana, incapable of 
       attaining the highest security. But if a monk (on those four 
       occasions for right effort) arouses ardor and fear of 
       wrong-doing, he is capable of attaining enlightenment, capable of 
       attaining Nibbana, capable of attaining the highest security"
                                -- S.16:2;condensed
  
  
    On another occasion Sariputta asked Maha Kassapa some questions 
  which one may not have expected: whether the Perfect One (Tathagata) 
  exists after death, or does not exist, or (in some sense) both exists 
  and does not exist, or neither exists nor does not exist.
    
    In each case Maha Kassapa replies that this was not declared by the 
  Exalted One. And when asked why not, he said: "Because it is of no 
  benefit and does not belong to the fundamentals of the holy life, 
  because it does not lead to turning away (from worldliness), nor to 
  dispassion, cessation, (inner) peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, 
  and Nibbana."
  
       "But what, friend, did the Exalted One declare?"
  
       "This is suffering -_ so, friend, has the Exalted One declared. 
       This is the origin of suffering -- the cessation of suffering -- 
       the way to the cessation of suffering -- so, friend, has the 
       Exalted One declared. And why? Because it conduces to benefit and 
       belongs to the fundamentals of the holy life, because it leads to 
       turning away (from worldliness), to dispassion, cessation, 
       (inner) peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and Nibbana" 
                                -- S. 16:12
  
    We have no tradition as to why Sariputta posed these questions, 
  which for an Arahat should have been fully clear. It is, however, not 
  impossible that this conversation took place immediately after 
  Kassapa's ordination and before his attainment of Arahatship, and that 
  Sariputta wanted to test him in that way; or, perhaps, it was for the 
  sake of other monks who may have been present.
  
    The Majjhima Nikaya records a sutta (No. 32, Mahagosinga Sutta) in 
  which Maha Kassapa participated in a group discussion with several 
  other eminent disciples led by Sariputta. At the time these elders of 
  the Order were residing in the Gosinga Forest along with the Buddha, 
  and on a clear moonlit night they approached Sariputta for a 
  discussion on the Dhamma. Sariputta declared: "Delightful is this 
  Gosinga Forest, it is a clear moonlit night, the sala-trees are in 
  full bloom, and it seems as if celestial scents are being wafted 
  around." Then he asked each distinguished elder in the group -- 
  Ananda, Revata, Anuruddha, Maha Kassapa, and Maha Moggallana -- what 
  kind of monk could illumine that Gosinga Forest. Maha Kassapa, like 
  the others, replied according to his own temperament. He declared that 
  a monk who could illumine the Gosinga Forest would be a 
  forest-dweller, one who went on almsround, who wore rag-robes, who 
  possessed only three robes, who had few wishes, was content, aloof, 
  not gregarious, energetic, and who would speak in praise of each of 
  these qualities. He would also possess virtue, concentration, wisdom. 
  deliverance and the knowledge and vision of deliverance, and would 
  speak in praise of each of these attainments.
    
    According to tradition, Maha Kassapa also had close connections in 
  former lives with the venerable Ananda. Ananda had twice been his 
  brother (J. 488,535), once his son (J. 450), once even the murderer of 
  his son (J. 540), and in this life he was his pupil (Maha Vagga I, 
  74). The Kassapa Samyutta likewise has two conversations between them. 
  They concern practical questions, while those with Sariputta referred 
  to doctrine.
    
    On the first occasion (related at S. 16:10) Ananda asked Kassapa 
  whether he would go with him to the nunnery. Kassapa, however, refused 
  and asked Ananda to go alone. But Ananda seemed to be keen that 
  Kassapa should give a Dhamma talk to the nuns, and he repeated his 
  request twice. Kassapa finally consented to go and gave a discourse to 
  the nuns. But the result turned out to be quite different from what 
  Ananda had expected. One of the nuns, Thullatissa by name, raised her 
  voice to make a rather offensive remark: "How could the Revered 
  Kassapa presume to speak Dhamma in the presence of the Revered Ananda, 
  the learned sage? This is as if a needle peddler wanted to sell a 
  needle to the needle maker."
    
    Obviously this nun preferred the gentle preaching of Ananda to 
  Kassapa's stern and sometimes critical approach, which may have 
  touched on her own weaknesses.
    
    When Kassapa heard the nun's remarks, he asked Ananda: "How is it, 
  friend Ananda, am I the needle peddler and you the needle maker, or am 
  I the needle maker and you the needle peddler?"
  
    Ananda replied: "Be indulgent, venerable sir. She is foolish woman.
    
    "Beware, friend Ananda, or else the Sangha may further examine you. 
  How is it, friend Ananda, was it you to whom the Exalted One referred 
  in the presence of the Sangha when saying: 'I, O monks, can attain at 
  will the four fine-material and immaterial meditative absorptions, the 
  cessation of perception and feeling, the six supernormal knowledges; 
  and Ananda, too, can so attain'?"
    
    "Not so, venerable sir."
    
    "Or was it that he said: 'Kassapa, too, can so attain'?"
    
    From the above account we see that the venerable Maha Kassapa did 
  not think that Ananda's conciliatory reply was adequate, or did full 
  justice to the situation. Thullatissa's remarks showed her personal 
  attachment to Ananda, who has always been a favorite with women, and 
  who had also given his strong support to the founding of the Order of 
  Nuns (Bhikkhuni Sangha). This emotional relation of Thullatissa's to 
  Ananda could not be put aside just by Ananda's general remark. Hence 
  Kassapa responded in a way which, at first glance, appears rather 
  harsh: "Beware, friend Ananda, or else the Sangha may further examine 
  you!" This was to say that Ananda should not engage himself too much 
  in ministering to the nuns, as on their part attachment such as that 
  of Thullatissa's could grow from it, and cause others to entertain 
  doubts about him. Kassapa's reply has therefore to be seen as the 
  earnest advice of a taint-free Arahat to one who had not yet reached 
  that state. When, immediately after, Kassapa mentioned that the Buddha 
  had declared his own meditative attainments equal with those of 
  himself, and not Ananda's, this may be taken as pointing to the far 
  different spiritual status of the two; and it may have served as a 
  spur to Ananda to strive for those attainments. The nun Thullatissa, 
  however, left the Order.
    
    Another conversation between the venerable Maha Kassapa and Ananda 
  arose on the following occasion (related at S.16:11). Once the 
  venerable Ananda went on a walking tour in the Southern Hills, 
  together with a large company of monks. This was at a time when thirty 
  mostly young monks, pupils of the venerable Ananda, had given up the 
  robe and had returned to the lay life. After the venerable Ananda had 
  ended his tour, he came to Rajagaha and went to see the venerable Maha 
  Kassapa. When he had saluted him and had sat down, Kassapa said this:
  
       "What are the reasons, friend Ananda, for the sake of which the 
       Blessed One had said that only three monks should take their alms 
       meal among families?"
       
       "There are three reasons, venerable sir: it is for restraining 
       ill-behaved persons, for the well-being of good monks, and out of 
       consideration for the lay families."
       
       "Then, friend Ananda, why do you go on tour with those young new 
       monks whose senses are unrestrained, who are not moderate in 
       eating, not given to watchfulness? It seems you behave like one 
       trampling the corn. It seems you destroy the faith of the 
       families. Your following is breaking up, your new starters are 
       falling away. This youngster truly does not know his own 
       measure!"
       
       "Gray hairs are now on my head, venerable sir, and still we 
       cannot escape being called 'youngster' by the venerable Maha 
       Kassapa."
  
    But the venerable Maha Kassapa repeated again the very same words he 
  had spoken.
  
    This could have ended this matter, as Ananda did not deny that the 
  reproach was justified. He objected only to the hurtful way in which 
  Maha Kassapa had expressed his censure. In response to the admonition, 
  Ananda would have tried to keep his pupils under stricter discipline. 
  But, again, this matter was complicated by a nun, Thullananda, who 
  along with Thullatissa was one of the "black sheep" of the Bhikkhuni 
  Order. She had heard that Ananda had been called a "youngster" by the 
  venerable Maha Kassapa, and full of indignation, she voiced her 
  protest saying that Kassapa had no right to criticize a wise monk like 
  Ananda, as Kassapa had formerly been an ascetic of another school. In 
  that way, Thullananda diverted the matter of monastic discipline into 
  personal detraction. Besides, she was wrong, as our earlier account 
  has shown. (Before meeting the Buddha, Kassapa had gone forth as an 
  independent ascetic, not as a follower of another school.) Thullananda 
  soon left the Order, just as the other wayward nun, Thullatissa, had 
  done.
  
    When the venerable Maha Kassapa heard Thullananda's utterance, he 
  said to Ananda: "Rash and thoughtless are the words spoken by 
  Thullananda the nun. Since I left the home life, I have had no other 
  teacher than the Exalted One, the Holy One, the Perfectly Enlightened 
  One" (S.16:11).
  
  
  
  
  8. After the Buddha's Parinibbana
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  What remains to be said about Maha Kassapa's relation to Ananda is 
  closely connected with his leading role in the Sangha after the 
  passing away of the Buddha. At the demise of the Buddha, only two of 
  the five most prominent disciples were present, the brothers Ananda 
  and Anuruddha. Sariputta and Maha Moggallana had preceded the Master 
  in death and Maha Kassapa, with a large company of monks, was just 
  then wandering on the high-road from Pava to Kusinara. During that 
  walk he happened to step aside from the road and sat down under a tree 
  to rest. Just then a naked ascetic passed that way. The ascetic had 
  with him a Mandarava (coral tree) flower, which is said to grow only 
  in a celestial world. When Maha Kassapa saw this, he knew that 
  something unusual must have happened for the flower to be found on 
  earth. He asked the ascetic whether he had heard any news about his 
  teacher, the Buddha, and the ascetic affirmed that he had, saying: 
  "The recluse Gotama passed into Nibbana a week ago. This Mandarava 
  flower I picked up from the place of cremation."
  
    Among the monks who heard that message, only those who were Arahats 
  like Maha Kassapa could remain composed and calm; but the others who 
  were still unliberated from the passions lamented and wept: "Too soon 
  has the Blessed One passed into Nibbana! Too soon has the Eye of the 
  World vanished from our sight!"
    
    But there was one monk, Subhadda by name, who had ordained in his 
  old age. He addressed the other monks and said: "Enough, friends! Do 
  not grieve, do not lament! We are well rid of that Great Ascetic. We 
  have been troubled by his telling us: 'This is befitting, that is not 
  befitting.' Now we can do what we like, and we won't have to do what 
  we do not like."
    
    It is not recorded that at that time the venerable Maha Kassapa gave 
  a reply to those callous words. He may not have wished just then to 
  strike a discordant note by censuring the monk or having him disrobed 
  as he deserved. Hence he remained silent. But, as we shall see later, 
  Maha Kassapa quoted that incident when he spoke of the need for 
  summoning a council. Now, however, he admonished his group of monks 
  not to lament, but to remember that impermanence is the nature of all 
  conditioned things. He then continued his journey to Kusinara, 
  together with his monks.
    
    Until then it had not been possible to set the funeral pyre alight 
  as the deities present wanted to wait until the venerable Maha Kassapa 
  came and paid his last homage to the remains of the Master. When the 
  venerable Maha Kassapa arrived at the place of cremation, he walked 
  twice around the pyre, reverently, with clasped hands, and then, with 
  bowed head paid his homage at the feet of the Tathagata. When his 
  group of monks had done likewise, the pyre, it is said, burst into 
  flames by itself.
  
    Hardly had the bodily remains of the Tathagata been cremated when 
  there arose a conflict about the distribution of the relics among the 
  lay folk assembled and those who had sent messengers later. But the 
  venerable Maha Kassapa remained aloof in that quarrel, as did the 
  other monks like Anuruddha and Ananda. It was a respected brahmin, 
  Dona by name, who finally divided the relics into eight portions and 
  distributed them among the eight claimants. He himself took the vessel 
  in which the relics had been collected.
  
    The venerable Maha Kassapa himself brought to King Ajatasattu of 
  Magadha his share of the relics. Having done so, he turned his 
  thoughts to the preservation of the Master's spiritual heritage, the 
  Teaching (Dhamma) and the Discipline (Vinaya).
  
  
    The necessity to do so was demonstrated to him by Subhadda's 
  challenge of the monastic discipline, and his advocacy of moral 
  laxity, which Maha Kassapa took as a warning. If that attitude were to 
  spread, it would lead to the decline and ruin of both the Sangha and 
  the Teaching. To prevent this at the very start, Maha Kassapa proposed 
  holding a council by which the Dhamma and Vinaya could be reliably 
  established and secured. With that suggestion, he turned to the monks 
  gathered at Rajagaha. The monks agreed and at their request Maha 
  Kassapa selected five hundred members, all but one of whom were 
  Arahats. Ananda, however, at that time had not yet succeeded in 
  reaching that final attainment, but as he excelled in remembering a 
  large number of the Buddha's discourses, he too was admitted to 
  complete the five hundred members of the First Council. [*] All other 
  monks were to leave Rajagaha for the duration of the council.
  
    [*] Determined not to attend the meeting as a mere disciple in
        training (//sekha//), Ananda made a dedicated effort in
        meditation the night before the council convened. Just as dawn
        was approaching, his mind was liberated from all taints, and he
        attended the meeting as an Arahat.
    
    
    As the first item of the council's proceedings, the texts of the 
  monastic discipline were recited by the venerable Upali, who was a 
  Vinaya expert. The second item was the codification of the Teaching 
  laid down in the discourses. Here it was Ananda who, on being 
  questioned by the venerable Maha Kassapa, recited all those texts 
  which were later compiled in the Five Collections (//nikaya//) of the 
  Sutta Pitaka. It was an outstanding feat of memory on his part.
  
    Finally, some special matters concerning the Sangha were discussed. 
  Among them, the venerable Ananda mentioned that the Buddha, shortly 
  before his death, had permitted the abolishment of minor rules. When 
  Ananda was asked whether he had inquired from the Buddha what these 
  minor rules were, he had to admit that he had neglected to do so.
  
    Now various opinions about this matter were expressed in the 
  assembly. As there was no consensus, the venerable Maha Kassapa asked 
  the assembly to consider that if they were to abolish rules 
  arbitrarily, the lay followers and the public in general would 
  reproach them for being in a hurry to relax discipline so soon after 
  the Master's death. Hence Maha Kassapa suggested that the rules should 
  be preserved intact without exception. And so it was decided 
  (Culavagga, XI).
    
    After the holding of the First Council, the high regard in which the 
  venerable Maha Kassapa was held grew still greater, and he was seen as 
  the de facto head of the Sangha. His seniority would have contributed 
  to this, as he was then one of the oldest living disciples. [*]
  
    [*] The commentaries say that Maha Kassapa was 120 years old at the
        time of the First Council, but as this chronology would mean
        that he was forty years older than the Buddha and thus already
        an old man of at least seventy-five when he met the Master, such
        a statement is hardly acceptable.
  
  
    Later on, the venerable Maha Kassapa handed over the Buddha's 
  almsbowl to Ananda, as a symbol of continuing the faithful 
  preservation of the Dhamma. Thus Maha Kassapa, who had been generally 
  recognized in the Order as the worthiest in succession, chose on his 
  part Ananda as being the worthiest after him.
  
    There is no report in the Pali literature about the time and 
  circumstances of his death.
  
  
  
  
  9. The Verses of Maha Kassapa
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  In the canonical "Verses of the Elders" (//Theragatha//), forty verses 
  (1051-1091) are ascribed to the venerable Maha Kassapa. These stanzas 
  mirror some of the great Elder's characteristic qualities and virtues: 
  his austere habits and his contentedness; his strictness towards 
  himself and brother monks; his independent spirit and his 
  self-reliance; his love of solitude, shunning the crowds; his 
  dedication to the practice of meditation and the peace of the jhanas. 
  These verses also show what does not appear in the prose texts: his 
  sensitivity to the beauty of nature that surrounded him.
  
    Here only a selection of the stanzas is given, which may be read in 
  full in the translations by C.A.F. Rhys Davids and K.R. Norman. [*]
  
    [*] Both published by the Pali Text Society, London. The renderings
        to follow are partly those of Mrs. Rhys Davids, partly
        adaptations or re-translations by the author.
  
  
  
            //An exhortation to the monks to practice contentment with 
            regard to the four basic requisites of a monk's life//. [1]
  
       Down from my mountain-lodge I came one day
       And made my round for alms about the streets.
       A leper there I saw eating his meal
       And courteously I halted at his side. (1054)
       
       He with his hand all leprous and diseased
       Put in my bowl a morsel; as he threw,
       A finger broke off and fell into my food. (1055)
       
       At a wall nearby I ate my share,
       Not at the time nor after felt disgust. (1056)
       
       For only he who takes as they come
       The scraps of food, cow's urine for medicine,
       Lodging beneath a tree, the patchwork robe,
       Truly is a man contented everywhere. [2] (1057)
  
  
            //When Maha Kassapa was asked why, at his advanced age, he 
            still climbed daily up and down the rock, he replied//:
       
       While some are very wearied as they climb the rocks,
       An heir of the Buddha, mindful, self-possessed,
       By force of the spirit fortified, [3]
       Does Kassapa ascend the mountain bow. (1058)
  
       Returning from the daily round for alms,
       He mounts again the rock and sits
       In meditation rapt, not clinging anywhere,
       For far from him has he put fear and dread. (1059)
       
       Returning from his daily round for alms,
       He mounts again the rock and sits
       In meditation rapt, not clinging anywhere,
       For he among those that burn is cool and still. (1060)
       
       Returning from his daily round for alms,
       He mounts again the rock and sits
       In meditation rapt, not clinging anywhere,
       His task is done, from cankers he is free. (1061)
       
            //People asked again why the venerable Maha Kassapa, at his 
            age, wishes to live in forests and mountains. Does he not 
            like monasteries such as the Veluvana Vihara and others?//
  
       These regions are delightful to my heart
       When the Kareri creeper spreads its flower wreaths,
       When sound the trumpet-calls of elephants.
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1062)
       
       These rocks with hue of dark-blue clouds
       Where streams are flowing, cool and crystal-clear,
       With glow-worms covered (shining bright),
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1063)
       
       Like towering peaks of dark-blue clouds,
       Like splendid edifices are these rocks,
       Where the birds' sweet voices fill the air,
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1064)
       
       With glades refreshed by (cooling) rain,
       Resounding with the calls of crested birds,
       The cliffs resorted to by seers,
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1065)
       
       Here is enough for me who, resolute,
       Desires to meditate (in solitude).
       Here is enough for me, a monk determined,
       Who seeks to dwell in the highest goal's attainment. [4] (1066)
       
       Here is enough for me who, resolute,
       Desires to live in happy ease (and free).
       Here is enough for me who is on effort bent,
       (Devoted to the practice) as a monk determined. (1064)
       
       Like dark-blue blooms of flax they are,
       Like autumn sky with dark-blue clouds,
       With flocks of many kinds of birds,
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1068)
       
       No crowds of lay folk have these rocks,
       But visited by herds of deer.
       With flocks of many kinds of birds,
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1069)
       
       Wide gorges are there where clear water flows,
       Haunted by monkeys and by deer,
       With mossy carpets covered, moist,
       These rocky heights delight my heart. (1700)
  
       No music with five instruments
       Can gladden me so much
       As when, with mind collected well,
       Right insight into Dhamma dawns. (1071)
  
            //In the following verses the venerable Maha Kassapa voices 
            his own "Lion Roar."//
  
       In the whole field of the Buddha's following,
       Except for the mighty Master himself,
       I stand the foremost in ascetic ways;
       No one practices them so far as I. (1087)
       
       The Master has been served by me,
       And all the Buddha's teaching has been done.
       Low have I laid the heavy load I bore,
       Cause for rebirth is found in me no more. (1088)
       
       Gotama the immeasurable does not cling
       To robe, to food or place of lodging.
       Like spotless lotus blossom he is free from taints,
       Bent on renunciation he transcends the three worlds. (1089)
       
       The four foundations of mindfulness are his neck;
       The great Seer has faith and confidence for hands;
       Above, his brow is perfect wisdom; nobly wise,
       He ever wanders with all desire quenched. (1090)
  
    
    [1] The sentences introducing sections of the verses are derived 
        from the old commentary.
    [2] Lit: "a man of the four directions"; that is, he is satisfied 
        with conditions he finds wherever he lives.
    [3] Lit.: "supported by his supernormal powers."
    [4] //Alam me atthakamassa//; lit. "enough for me who desires the 
        goal." But as Maha Kassapa had already arrived at the goal of
        Arahatship, our free rendering is justified. Alternative
        rendering: "Who desires his purpose."
  
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