法華義疏 1.222

1.222

「摩訶迦葉」者，《文殊問經》翻為大龜，摩伽陀國之大姓也。從姓立名，別名必鉢羅者，在必鉢羅樹下生，故名必鉢羅童子。其家父母祈禱天神，有梵天下降託以生之，如餘經廣說也。《十八部論疏》云「具足應云迦葉波，迦葉此云光，波此云飲，合而言之故云飲光。飲是其姓，上古仙人名為飲光，以此仙人身有光明能飲諸光令不復現；今此迦葉是飲光仙人種，即以飲光為姓，從姓立名稱飲光也。又此羅漢亦自有飲光事，其人身有金色光明，以閻浮檀金在水底而金光徹出水上，轉輪聖王出世時夜叉等取此金，將來人間博易，故人間有此金。此金在人間，人間諸金不復現，此金猶不及迦葉金色，是故亦名飲光也。

Regarding "Mahākāśyapa": the *Mañjuśrīparipṛcchā Sūtra* translates this as "great turtle," a prominent clan in Magadha. The name was established from the clan. His personal name was Pippala because he was born under a pippala tree, and thus he was named Pippala-kumāra. His parents prayed to devas, and a Brahmā deva descended and took rebirth through them, as broadly explained in other sūtras. The *Commentary on the Treatise on the Eighteen Schools* states: "In full, it should be Kāśyapa. *Kāśya* is translated here as light, and *pa* is translated here as drinking. Compounded together, it means 'drinking light' (drinker of light). 'Drinker' is his clan. An ancient sage was named Drinker of Light because this sage had radiance on his body that could drink up all lights, causing them no longer to appear. Now, this Kāśyapa is of the lineage of the sage Drinker of Light, taking Drinker of Light as his clan, and his name was established from his clan as Drinker of Light. Furthermore, this arhat also had his own circumstance of 'drinking light': his body had a golden radiance. Because Jāmbūnada gold lay at the bottom of the water and its golden radiance penetrated above the water, when a wheel-turning sage king appeared in the world, yakṣas and others retrieved this gold and brought it to the human realm to trade, and thus this gold existed in the human realm. When this gold was in the human realm, all other golds in the human realm no longer appeared; yet even this gold could not match Kāśyapa's golden color, and for this reason he was also named Drinker of Light."