Editing Inedia (section)

==Mythology and religion==

===Hinduism===
Some Hindu religious texts contain accounts of saints and hermits practising what would be called inedia, breatharianism or Sustenance through Light in modern terms. In Valmiki's ''[[Ramayana]]'', Book III, Canto VI, an account of anchorites and holy men is given, who flocked around [[Rama]] when he came to [[Śarabhanga]]'s hermitage. These included, among others, the "...saints who live on rays which moon and daystar give" and "those ... whose food the wave of air supplies". In Canto XI of the same book, a hermit named [[Māṇḍakarṇi]] is mentioned: "For he, great votarist, intent – On strictest rule his stern life spent – ... – Ten thousand years on air he fed..."  (English quotations are from [[Ralph T. H. Griffith]]'s translation).

[[Paramahansa Yogananda]]'s 1946 book ''[[Autobiography of a Yogi]]'' details two alleged historical examples of breatharianism, Hari Giri Bala and [[Therese Neumann]].

There are claims that [[Devraha Baba]] lived without food.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Some breatharians claim that humans can be sustained solely by ''[[prana]]'', the vital life force in [[Hinduism]]. According to [[Ayurveda]], [[sunlight]] is one of the main sources of prana, and some practitioners believe that it is possible for a person to survive on sunlight alone.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

===Taoism===
[[Bigu (grain avoidance)]] is a fasting technique with various different interpretations, from simply avoiding eating specific grains, to avoiding all grains, to eating no food at all, and drawing sustenance from gulps of air.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maspero |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/taoismchineserel00henr |title=Taoism and Chinese Religion |date=1981 |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |isbn=9780870233081 |translator-last=Kierman Jr. |translator-first=Frank A. |url-access=registration}}</ref>

=== Jainism ===
{{main|Fasting in Jainism}}
There are varying types of fasts practised by followers of [[Jainism]]. Some Jain monks and laities continuously fast for months. These fasts last six months or even longer. A Jain monk, Sahaj Muni Maharaj, is said to have completed his 365-day fast on 1 May 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jainism: Fasting |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/customs/fasting_1.shtml |access-date=2020-05-29 |website=www.bbc.co.uk – BBC – Religions |language=en-GB |archive-date=7 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707200636/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/customs/fasting_1.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Another Jain monk Hansaratna Vijayji was said to have completed 423-day fast in 494 days in 2015. He had previously claimed to have fasted for 108 days in 2013 and for 180 days in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Bhavika |date=2015-11-01 |title=Jain monk completes 423 days of fasting |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Jain-monk-completes-423-days-of-fasting/articleshow/49616061.cms |access-date=2020-05-29 |website=The Times of India – Mumbai |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108104823/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Jain-monk-completes-423-days-of-fasting/articleshow/49616061.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> Several others have claimed to have fasted for six months.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shukla |first=Ashutosh M. |date=2014-02-22 |title=Jain Sadhu's 180-day fasting to be celebrated |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-jain-sadhu-s-180-day-fasting-to-be-celebrated-1964119 |access-date=2020-05-29 |website=DNA India |language=en |archive-date=6 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506212920/https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-jain-sadhu-s-180-day-fasting-to-be-celebrated-1964119 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-04 |title=Bhavnagar woman fasts for 180 days, CM attends parna |url=https://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/others/bhavnagar-woman-fasts-for-180-days-cm-attends-parna/articleshow/70967777.cms |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926193018/https://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/others/bhavnagar-woman-fasts-for-180-days-cm-attends-parna/articleshow/70967777.cms |archive-date=2020-09-26 |access-date=2020-05-29 |website=[[Ahmedabad Mirror]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shukla |first=Ashutosh M. |date=2014-03-02 |title=Family pours Rs 21 crore on water used to break Jain muni's fast |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-family-pours-rs-21-crore-on-water-used-to-break-jain-muni-s-fast-1966099 |access-date=2020-05-29 |website=DNA India |language=en |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111202926/https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-family-pours-rs-21-crore-on-water-used-to-break-jain-muni-s-fast-1966099 |url-status=live }}</ref>