Maha Kasyapa, also known as Kasyapa, was a Brahman born somewhere near the city of Rajagrha, Magadha. He became the Buddha's disciple three years after the Buddha was enlightened, and he became an arhat eight days later.

His given name was Pippala, because his parents worshipped the god of the pippala tree (Ficus religiosa), a sacred tree in India. His father was a rich man in the village. When Kasyapa was eight years old, he started to learn Brahman philosophy, painting, math, literature, music, dancing, etc. He was very clever and mastered all of these subjects. He was different from other children of his age in that he preferred to live by himself and did not like to display his emotions.

When Kasyapa was twenty-nine years old, his parents wanted to find him a wife, but he replied that he intended to be a religious practitioner and did not want to get married. His parents vehemently objected to this. He then had an artist create a gold statue of a woman. He said to his parents, "Unless you can find a woman as beautiful as this statue, I will not get married." His parents ordered their servants to take the statue and search for such a woman. As it happened, they found a beautiful woman in the suburb of Vaisai who looked exactly like the statue. Her name was Subhadra, and she was the kind of woman that every man would dream of. When Kasyapa's father heard about her, he was delighted and immediately agreed to the marriage.

That evening, Subhadra was very unhappy. Kasyapa asked her why she was so upset. "I originally wanted to be a religious practitioner and I didn't want to get married，" she finally replied sadly. "But my father was beguiled by your father's wealth and made me marry you. Now my hope is completely ruined."