[374] When this was said, the Blessed One said to Keṇiya the matted-hair ascetic (jaṭila): "Keṇiya, the Sangha of bhikkhus is large — twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus — and you have full confidence in the brahmins."
For a second time Keṇiya the jaṭila said to the Blessed One: "Master Gotama, although the Sangha of bhikkhus is large — twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus — and although I have full confidence in the brahmins, still, let Master Gotama, together with the Sangha of bhikkhus, consent to accept tomorrow's meal from me." For a second time the Blessed One said to Keṇiya the jaṭila: "Keṇiya, the Sangha of bhikkhus is large — twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus — and you have full confidence in the brahmins." For a third time Keṇiya the jaṭila said to the Blessed One: "Master Gotama, although the Sangha of bhikkhus is large — twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus — and although I have full confidence in the brahmins, still, let Master Gotama, together with the Sangha of bhikkhus, consent to accept tomorrow's meal from me." The Blessed One consented by his silence.
Then Keṇiya the jaṭila, understanding the Blessed One's consent, rose from his seat and went to his own hermitage. Having arrived, he addressed his friends and companions, his kinsmen and blood relations: "Let my honored friends and companions, kinsmen and blood relations, hear me: the ascetic Gotama has been invited by me for tomorrow's meal together with the Sangha of bhikkhus; therefore render me bodily service." "Yes, good sir," the friends and companions, kinsmen and blood relations of Keṇiya the jaṭila replied to Keṇiya the jaṭila; and some dug fireplaces, some split firewood, some washed the vessels, some set out the water jar, and some made ready the seats, while Keṇiya the jaṭila himself prepared the circular pavilion.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.