Mahākāśyapa

(Sanskrit; Pāli, Mahākassapa). Also known as Kāśyapa, an Arhat and senior disciple of the Buddha famed for his saintly and austere lifestyle and exceptional accomplishments. The Buddha regarded him as his equal in exhorting the monks, and in entering and abiding in the trances (dhyāna). Mahākāśyapa is said to have borne seven of the 32 marks of a superman (dvātriṃśadvara-lakṣaṇa) on his body and was renowned for his supernatural powers (ṛddhi). He was not present at the Buddha's death and it is said that the funeral pyre refused to light until he arrived a week later. As the most senior monk present he was nominated to act as president at the Council of Rājagṛha that followed shortly after the Buddha's demise. At the council he personally questioned Ānanda and Upāli in order to establish which were the orthodox sūtra and Vinaya teachings. He also brought certain charges against Ānanda, including having interceded with the Buddha to allow the ordination of women, and of failing to request the Buddha to extend his life. Mahākāśyapa is regarded by the Ch'an school as its first patriarch because he was the only one to grasp the meaning of a wordless sermon in which the Buddha simply held up a flower and smiled. The meaning of this gesture is that the truth is beyond all verbal explanation, and as such needs to be taught not through doctrines but by direct transmission from teacher to student.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)