Note 17 — Chapter XVI · ON TO MATHURA OR MUTTRA. CONDITION AND CUSTOMS OF CENTRAL INDIA; OF THE MONKS, VIHARAS, AND MONASTERIES.

(17) There was a Kasyapa Buddha, anterior to Sâkyamuni. But this Maha-kasyapa was a Brahman of Magadha, who was converted by Buddha, and became one of his disciples. He took the lead after Sâkyamuni’s death, convoked and directed the first synod, from which his title of Arya-sthavira is derived. As the first compiler of the Canon, he is considered the fountain of Chinese orthodoxy, and counted as the first patriarch. He also is to be reborn as Buddha. Eitel, p. 64.