The Gospel of BuddhaBuddhismScripture SelectionEnglish (compiled from Pali and Sanskrit sources)ShareThe Gospel of Buddha 19Paul Carus (1894) - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availablePaul Carus (1894)LanguageEnglishEspañol‹The Gospel of Buddha 1The Gospel of Buddha 2The Gospel of Buddha 3The Gospel of Buddha 4The Gospel of Buddha 5The Gospel of Buddha 6The Gospel of Buddha 7The Gospel of Buddha 8The Gospel of Buddha 9The Gospel of Buddha 10The Gospel of Buddha 11The Gospel of Buddha 12The Gospel of Buddha 13The Gospel of Buddha 14The Gospel of Buddha 15The Gospel of Buddha 16The Gospel of Buddha 17The Gospel of Buddha 18The Gospel of Buddha 19The Gospel of Buddha 20The Gospel of Buddha 21The Gospel of Buddha 22The Gospel of Buddha 23The Gospel of Buddha 24The Gospel of Buddha 25The Gospel of Buddha 26The Gospel of Buddha 27The Gospel of Buddha 28The Gospel of Buddha 29The Gospel of Buddha 30The Gospel of Buddha 31The Gospel of Buddha 32The Gospel of Buddha 33The Gospel of Buddha 34The Gospel of Buddha 35The Gospel of Buddha 36The Gospel of Buddha 37The Gospel of Buddha 38The Gospel of Buddha 39The Gospel of Buddha 40The Gospel of Buddha 41The Gospel of Buddha 42The Gospel of Buddha 43The Gospel of Buddha 44The Gospel of Buddha 45The Gospel of Buddha 46The Gospel of Buddha 47The Gospel of Buddha 48The Gospel of Buddha 49The Gospel of Buddha 50The Gospel of Buddha 51The Gospel of Buddha 52The Gospel of Buddha 53The Gospel of Buddha 54The Gospel of Buddha 55The Gospel of Buddha 56The Gospel of Buddha 57The Gospel of Buddha 58The Gospel of Buddha 59The Gospel of Buddha 60The Gospel of Buddha 61The Gospel of Buddha 62The Gospel of Buddha 63The Gospel of Buddha 64The Gospel of Buddha 65The Gospel of Buddha 66The Gospel of Buddha 67The Gospel of Buddha 68The Gospel of Buddha 69The Gospel of Buddha 70The Gospel of Buddha 71The Gospel of Buddha 72The Gospel of Buddha 73The Gospel of Buddha 74The Gospel of Buddha 75The Gospel of Buddha 76The Gospel of Buddha 77The Gospel of Buddha 78The Gospel of Buddha 79The Gospel of Buddha 80The Gospel of Buddha 81The Gospel of Buddha 82The Gospel of Buddha 83The Gospel of Buddha 84The Gospel of Buddha 85The Gospel of Buddha 86The Gospel of Buddha 87The Gospel of Buddha 88The Gospel of Buddha 89The Gospel of Buddha 90The Gospel of Buddha 91The Gospel of Buddha 92The Gospel of Buddha 93The Gospel of Buddha 94The Gospel of Buddha 95The Gospel of Buddha 96The Gospel of Buddha 97The Gospel of Buddha 98The Gospel of Buddha 99The Gospel of Buddha 100›Chapter XIX: KassapaThe Gospel of Buddha 19ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1At that time there lived in Uruvelā the Jatilas, Brahman hermits with matted hair, worshipping the fire and keeping a fire-dragon; and Kassapa was their chief. 2Kassapa was renowned throughout all India, and his name was honored as one of the wisest men on earth and an authority on religion. 3And the Blessed One went to Kassapa of Uruvelā, the Jatila, and said: "Let me stay a night in the room where you keep your sacred fire." 4Kassapa, seeing the Blessed One in his majesty and beauty, thought to himself: "This is a great muni and a noble teacher. Should he stay over night in the room where the sacred fire is kept, the serpent will bite him and he will die." And he said: "I do not object to your staying over-night in the room where the sacred fire is kept, but the serpent lives there; he will kill you and I should be sorry to see you perish." 5But the Buddha insisted and Kassapa admitted him to the room where the sacred fire was kept. 6And the Blessed One sat down with his body erect, surrounding himself with watchfulness. 7In the night the dragon came to the Buddha, belching forth in rage his fiery poison, and filling the air with burning vapor, but could do him no harm, and the fire consumed itself while the World-honored One remained composed. And the venomous fiend became very wroth so that he died in his anger. 8When Kassapa saw the light shining forth from the room he said: "Alas, what misery! Truly, the countenance of Gotama the great Sakyamuni is beautiful, but the serpent will destroy him." 9In the morning the Blessed One showed the dead body of the fiend to Kassapa, saying: "His fire has been conquered by my fire." 10And Kassapa thought to himself. "Sakyamuni is a great samana and possesses high powers, but he is not holy like me." 11There was in those days a festival, and Kassapa thought: "The people will come hither from all parts of the country and will see the great Sakyamuni. When he speaks to them, they will believe in him and abandon me." And he grew envious. 12When the day of the festival arrived, the Blessed One retired and did not come to Kassapa. And Kassapa went to the Buddha on the next morning and said: "Why did the great Sakyamuni not come?" 13The Tathāgata replied: "Didst thou not think, O Kassapa, that it would be better if I stayed away from the festival?" 14And Kassapa was astonished and thought: "Great is Sakyamuni; he can read my most secret thoughts, but he is not holy like me." 15And the Blessed One addressed Kassapa and said: "Thou seest the truth, but acceptest it not because of the envy that dwells in thy heart. Is envy holiness? Envy is the last remnant of self that has remained in thy mind. Thou art not holy, Kassapa; thou hast not yet entered the path." 16And Kassapa gave up his resistance. His envy disappeared, and, bowing down before the Blessed One, he said: "Lord, our Master, let me receive the ordination from tin. Blessed One." 17And the Blessed One said: "Thou, Kassapa, art chief of the Jatilas. Go, then, first and inform them of thine intention, and let them do as thou thinkest fit." 18Then Kassapa went to the Jatilas and said: "I am anxious to lead a religious life under the direction of the great Sakyamuni, who is the Enlightened One, the Buddha. Do as ye think best." 19And the Jatilas replied: "We have conceived a profound affection for the great Sakyamuni, and if thou wilt join his brotherhood, we will do likewise." 20The Jatilas of Uruvelā now flung their paraphernalia of fire-worship into the river and went to the Blessed One. 21Nadi Kassapa and Gayā Kassapa, brothers of the great Uruvelā Kassapa, powerful men and chieftains among the people, were dwelling below on the stream, and when they saw the instruments used in fire-worship floating in the river, they said: "Something has happened to our brother." And they came with their folk to Uruvelā. Hearing what had happened, they, too, went to the Buddha. 22The Blessed One, seeing that the Jatilas of Nadi and Gayā, who had practised severe austerities and worshipped fire, were now come to him, preached a sermon on fire, and said: 23"Everything, O Jatilas, is burning. The eye is burning, all the senses are burning, thoughts are burning. They are burning with the fire of lust. There is anger, there is ignorance, there is hatred, and as long as the fire finds inflammable things upon which it can feed, so long will it burn, and there will be birth and death, decay, grief, lamentation, suffering, despair, and sorrow. Considering this, a disciple of the Dharma will see the four noble truths and walk in the eightfold path of holiness. He will become wary of his eye, wary of all his senses, wary of his thoughts. He will divest himself of passion and become free. He will be delivered from selfishness and attain the blessed state of Nirvāna." 24And the Jatilas rejoiced and took refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. ‹Previous chapterThe Gospel of Buddha 18Next chapterThe Gospel of Buddha 20›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain