Maha Kasyapa or Mahākāśyapa (Pali: Mahākassapa) or Kāśyapa was one of the principal disciples of Gautama Buddha. He came from the kingdom of Magadha. He became an arhat and was the disciple of the Buddha who was foremost in ascetic practice.

Mahākāśyapa assumed the leadership of the Sangha following the death of the Buddha, presiding over the First Buddhist Council. He is considered to be the first patriarch in a number of Mahayana School dharma lineages. In the Theravada tradition, he is considered to be the Buddha's third foremost disciple, surpassed only by the chief disciples Sariputta and Maha Moggallana.

Mahākāśyapa is one of the most revered of the Buddha's entire disciples, foremost in ascetic practices.

In Lotus Sutra Chapter 6 (Bestowal of Prophecy), the Buddha bestows prophecies of enlightenment on the disciples Mahākāśyapa, Subhuti, Maha Katyayana, and Maudgalyāyana.

According to Zen tradition,^[6] Mahākāśyapa was the first to receive Dharma transmission from Gautama.^[7] Zen purports to lead its adherents to insights akin to that mentioned by the Buddha in the Flower Sermon, in which he held up a white flower and just admired it in his hand. All the other disciples just looked on without knowing how to react, but Mahākāśyapa smiled faintly, and Śākyamuni Buddha picked him as one who truly understood him and was worthy to be his successor.^[8] (This can be explained thus: Mahākāśyapa's spiritual attainment had reached the point where he could understand the hidden meanings conveyed by the Buddha's act, as two people who have gone through the same experiences understand each other completely.) He then said, "I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa."^[9] Thus, a way within Buddhism developed which concentrated on direct experience rather than on rational creeds or revealed scriptures. Zen is a method of meditative religion which seeks to enlighten people in the manner that Mahākāśyapa experienced.^[8]

In the Song of Enlightenment (證道歌 Zhèngdào gē) of Yongjia Xuanjue (665-713)^[10]—one of the chief disciples of Huìnéng, the 6th patriarch of Chan Buddhism—it is written that Bodhidharma was the 28th patriarch in a line of descent from Mahākāśyapa, a disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha, and the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism:

Mahākāśyapa is called 大迦葉(da jia she) or 摩诃迦葉(mo he jia she) in Chinese，摩诃 is a transliteration of Mahā, means big, great, mega, also is written as 大(da，means big, great). According to Chinese legend, the monk Ji Gong(Chinese：濟公) is a reincarnation of Mahākāśyapa (known as the Taming Dragon arhat).

Mahākāśyapa's entire body was enshrined underneath the mountain Kukkutapada where it is said to remain until the appearance of Maitreya.^[12] Pali sources say that beings in Maitreya's time will be much bigger than during the time of Sakyamuni. In one prophecy, his disciples are contemptuous of Mahākāśyapa, whose head is no larger than an insect to them. Gautama Buddha's robe would barely cover two of their fingers, making them wonder how tiny Gautama Buddha was. Mahākāśyapa is said to be small enough in comparison to cremate in the palm of Maitreya's hand.^[13] Mahākāśyapa wears a paṃsukūla robe. ^[14]