Chapter 43
‚Kassapa, you must therefore practise, thinking thus: ‘Mindfulness on the body
(
kÈyagatÈ-sati
) accompanied by happiness (
sukha
) shall never desert me!‛
The Buddha gave him these three pieces of advice. The Venerable Kassapa also received
them respectfully. This three-piece advice amounted to the Venerable's ordination, lower as
well as higher. The Venerable MahÈ Kassapa was the only one to received this kind of
ordination in the Buddha's dispensation. And such is know as ‚
ovÈda-paÔiggahana
upasampadÈ
—— ordination through acceptance of the Buddha's advice.‛
(Herein the Buddha granted the Venerable Kassapa ordination as a
bhikkhu
by
means of these three pieces of advice. Of these three, the first is: ‚Dear son
Kassapa, you must develop first the two ‘effective’ virtues of
hirÊ
and
ottappa
as
you encounter three classes of fellow
bhikkhus
, namely, those of higher standing,
who are senior to you by age and ordination, those of lower standing, who are
junior to you, and those of medium standing, who are equal to you,‛ By this first
advice, Venerable Kassapa was taught to abandon pride in birth, for he was of the
brahmin caste.
(The second advice is: ‚Dear son Kassapa, while you are listening to the faultless
Teaching, you must be respectfully attentive by lending both your ears, the wisdom
ear as well as the natural one, in all three phases of the Teaching, the beginning, in
the middle and towards the end.‛ By this second advice the Venerable was taught
to abandon arrogance springing from his wide knowledge, for he was highly
intelligent
(The third advice is: ‚Dear son Kassapa, you must strive not to let the first
jhÈna
get away from your mental process, the
jhÈna
which is accompanied by feeling of
happiness (
sukha-vedanÈ
) originated in mindfulness of the body (
kÈyagatÈ-sati
) and
the sense object of breathing-in and out (
ÈnÈpÈna ÈrammaÓa
).‛ By this third advice
the Venerable was taught to abandon self-love and self-craving (
taÓhÈ
-
lobha
)
developing from possession of strong personality (
upadhi
), for he was good
looking.)
Having made Venerable Kassapa an advice-receiving monk at the foot of the Bahuputtaka
banyan tree, the Buddha left and set out on a journey with the noble Venerable as His
follower. While the Buddha had thirty-two marks of a great being on His body and was
thus exquisitely splendored, Venerable Kassapa was graceful with seven marks. The latter
closely followed the Buddha like a small golden boat trails a big golden one. After going
some distance, the Buddha diverted from the main road and gave a hint that He would like
to sit at the foot of a tree. Knowing that the Master was desirous of sitting, the Venerable
made his (very soft) upper robe fourfold and spread it and said: ‚Exalted Buddha, may the
glorious Buddha be seated here. The act of the Exalted Buddha's sitting will bring welfare
and happiness to me for long.‛
Exchange of Robes
Having sat on the outer robe in four folds, the Buddha felt the edge of the robe with His
hand, which had the colour of a lotus blossom, and said: ‚Dear son Kassapa, this upper
robe of yours made of an old piece of cloth is very soft indeed!‛
(Herein, ‘why did the Buddha uttered words of praise?’ The answer should be:
because He wanted to make exchange of robes with Venerable Kassapa.
‘Why did the Buddha want to make exchange of robes?’ The answer should be:
because He wanted to install the Venerable in His position.
(‚For such installation were there not Venerables SÈriputta and MoggallÈna?‛ one
might argue. The answers is: Yes, they were there. But it occurred to the Buddha
thus: ‚Both of them will not live long. They will attain
parinibbÈna
before Me.
Kassapa, however, will live for a hundred and twenty years, four months after my
ParinibbÈna, in the cave where a
sattapanni
tree grows, he will hold a Council at
which a mass recital, in approval (
sa~gÈyanÈ
) of the Dhamma and the Vinaya, will