is criticized for looking inappropriate. This may have been the work of the translators. In Mahāyāna iconography, Mahākāśyapa is often depicted flanking the Buddha at the left side, together with Ānanda at the right. The two disciples have been very popular in art depictions since the time of Greco-Buddhism, and Migot argued that the tradition of Mahākāśyapa and Ānanda being the Buddha's two main disciples was older than that of the tradition of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, because in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta only the former pair features, and the traditional explanation for this that Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana did not outlive the Buddha seems unconvincing. In Chan temples, the image of Mahākāśyapa is often placed in a central position, being the first patriarch of the tradition. In the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism, as the rag-robe asceticism of Mahākāśyapa contributed to his legendary figure and the legitimation of the Mahāyāna creed, rag-robes became an icon in East Asian Buddhism. The Buddha's disciples and founders of East Asian Buddhism were often depicted in them. When fukudenkai sewing groups were founded in Japan in the early twentieth century, to introduce sewing robes for monastics as a spiritual practice, they often referred to the early Buddhist account of Mahākāśyapa receiving the rag-robes from the Buddha. Fukudenkai practitioners usually use second-hand clothes to sew the rag-robes, just like in the time of the Buddha. In May 2022, Sushant More, a botany researcher from Mumbai, Maharashtra discovered a new plant Lepidagathis mahakassapae endemic to the state and named it after Mahākāśyapa, following the Pāli spelling of his name. Notes Citations References External links Mahā Kassapa, Father of the Sangha, by Hellmuth Hecker, biography based on the Pāli Canon, revised and enlarged translation from Wissen und Wandel volume XXI, number 6, 1975, (German) by Nyanaponika Thera, The Wheel Publication No. 345, archived here. Mahākāśyapa, hosted by Learning Religion, archived here. Foremost disciples of Gautama Buddha Arhats Indian Buddhist monks Buddhist patriarchs 5th-century Buddhist monks