Kaśyapa

Also sometimes written Kashyapa. In the Hindu sacred books he has a wide variety of things attributed to him, clearly indicating that there were several persons with this name. In one place he is a Vedic sage, descendant of Mar…ci (one of the seven great sages who was “mind-born” from Brahmš) and author of several hymns of the ¬g Veda. In the ®atapata Br€hmaŠa he is said to be the same as Praj€pati (i.e., Lord of Progeny) who assumed the form of a tortoise in order to create offsprings; in fact, one of the meanings of the word kaypa is “tortoise.” In another place he is the husband of twelve wives and progenitor of all kinds of living creatures as well as demons (asuras) and wise men (n€gas, lit. “serpents”). In still another he is the brahmin priest of both Paraur€ma and R€ma, two of the incarnations (avat€ras) of ViŠu. In another place, he is identified as the father of Kapila, originator of the Sš¥khya philosophy. Kayapa is also the Indian name of the constellation Cancer. In other words, the name is used to designate many different people as well as some non-human things (constellation and tortoise). Kayapa is also the name of the Buddhist Arhat who was a direct disciple of the Buddha, and “to whom alone was entrusted the sacred keeping of the Esoteric interpretation” of Buddha’s teachings (CW XIV:444). He was the one who organized the first Buddhist council. He is usually known as Mah€-Kayapa to distinguish him from other disciples who were of the same name. In another context, Kayapa Buddha is said by Mahšyšna Buddhists to be the predecessor of Gautama Buddha. He was the sixth of the seven Buddhas mentioned in the Digha Nik€ya. Helena P. BLAVATSKY repeats several of these stories, but interprets at least some of them as having a deeper meaning. For instance, the Kayapa who had twelve wives (clearly an allusion to the twelve signs of the Zodiac) and who gave birth to “all kinds of things” is “but a veiled record of the order of evolution in this round?” (SD II:253). That Kayapa, in other words, is a mythological figure. On the other hand, she states that the Kayapa who was the father of Kapila was an historical person (SD II:572) as was the Buddhist of that name (SD I:xxviii). R.W.B.