Uruvela Kassapa's two younger brothers, Nadī Kassapa and Gayā Kassapa, live downstream on the Nerañjarā. Seeing their elder brother's ritual implements and hair-knots floating down the river, they think he has been killed and go upstream with their disciples, only to learn that he has gone forth; they then go forth with their disciples as well. The disciples of the three brothers number a thousand in all. Taishō Canon
More sources (4)
Pali Canon
Different Accounts
Number of disciples: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka and Mahīśāsaka Vinayas and the Ekottarika Āgama give three hundred and two hundred; the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the Tibetan Vinaya and several Buddha biographies give two hundred and fifty each.
More differences between accounts (2)
The Buddha biography Fo benxing ji jing further says that Upasena, a nephew of the three brothers, went forth with two hundred and fifty followers; the list of those who went forth in the Chinese Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya also includes “Upasena and others, two hundred and fifty”; other accounts do not have this. Taishō Canon
The Buddha biography Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing has the Buddha teach the two brothers here about “the raging fire of the three poisons, greed, hatred and delusion”, and does not record a separate teaching on Gayāsīsa.
Dating
Year 2 after the Awakening, the Buddha aged thirty-six, before the , immediately after the conversion of Uruvela Kassapa; inferred from the sequence of events, known only to fall within this period.
Related Entries
- Year
- Places
- People
- Discourses
Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
Recorded by four schools: the Pali canon of the Southern tradition, the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü), the Chinese Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Wufen lü) and the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. Attested across multiple schools.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Inferred from the sequence of events (neither the canonical texts nor the commentaries give the time; the year is worked out from the order of this event and those around it). Time precision: approximate range.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利律 Kd 1:15.1.5–15.1.6
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1428 p.796b–797a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1421 p.109b
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.133c–134b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.622a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.185 p.482c–483a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.186 p.532a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.649c–650a
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.191 p.961a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.196 p.151c
- 藏譯（德格版）德格版 D1 nga 65b3–66b3
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.190 p.851a
- 大正藏大正藏 T22 no.1425 p.412c
- 大正藏大正藏 T03 no.189 p.650a
- 大正藏大正藏 T04 no.195 p.147a