[407] "But, Aggivessana, what have you heard about the development of the body (kāyabhāvanā)?"
"For example, worthy Gotama, Nanda Vaccha, Kisa Saṅkicca, and Makkhali Gosāla. These, worthy Gotama, are naked ascetics, rejecting conventions of conduct, lickers of their hands; they do not come when asked to come, nor stand when asked to stand; they do not consent to food brought to them, nor to food prepared specifically for them, nor to an invitation. They do not receive from the mouth of a pot, nor from the mouth of a basket; nor across a threshold, nor across a stick, nor across a pestle; nor from two people eating together; nor from a pregnant woman, nor from a woman giving suck, nor from a woman lying with a man; nor from food collected by public announcement; nor where a dog is standing by, nor where flies are swarming in swarms. They accept no fish, no meat; they drink no liquor, no wine, no fermented gruel. They keep to one house, to one morsel; or to two houses, to two morsels … or to seven houses, to seven morsels. They subsist on one small offering; they subsist on two small offerings … they subsist on seven small offerings. They take food once a day; they take food once every two days … they take food once every seven days. Thus they dwell devoted to the practice of taking food at stated intervals, even of this kind extending to half a month."
"But, Aggivessana, do they subsist on just that much?"
"No indeed, worthy Gotama. Sometimes, worthy Gotama, they chew the very finest hard foods, eat the very finest soft foods, taste the very finest savouries, and drink the very finest drinks. They restore, as it were, the strength of this body; they build it up, as it were; they fatten it, as it were."
"What they earlier gave up, Aggivessana, they later accumulate again. Thus there is increase and decrease of this body."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.