He was the preceptor (upajjhāya) of Upāli, and once lived in a cemetery near Vesāli. In the cemetery the group of six nuns (Chabbaggiyā) buried the ashes of one of their leaders and erected a thūpa near Kappitaka’s cell. The elder, disturbed by the sound of their lamentations, broke the thūpa and scattered the materials. The nuns, greatly angered, plotted to kill him, but he was warned by Upāli, and lay hidden elsewhere until the nuns had destroyed his cell and gone away under the impression that he was dead. The nuns blamed Upāli for upsetting their arrangements (Vin.iv.308).

According to the Petavatthu and its Commentary (Pv.50; PvA.229 ff), Kappitaka lived in Kapinaccāna (near Vesāli), and there the Licchavi Ambasakkhara offered him alms on behalf of a peta. He was evidently at one time a Jaṭila, with a large following of Jaṭilā, for he is described as “jaṭilasahassassa abbhantaro thero.” Sp.iv.937; PvA.230.