[86] Then the Blessed One said this to Puṇṇa the Koliyaputta, the cow-observance practitioner: "This, Puṇṇa, is what I could not get from you [when I said]: 'Enough, Puṇṇa, let that be; do not ask me that.'"
[Seniya the naked ascetic, the dog-observance practitioner, said:] "Venerable sir, I am not crying about that which the Blessed One has said to me; rather, venerable sir, this dog observance (kukkuravatta) has been fully undertaken by me for a long time. Venerable sir, this Puṇṇa the Koliyaputta is a cow-observance practitioner (govattika); that cow observance (govatta) has been fully undertaken by him for a long time. What is his destination (gati)? What is his future state (abhisamparāya)?"
"Enough, Seniya, let that be; do not ask me that."
A second time the naked ascetic (acela) Seniya … A third time the naked ascetic Seniya, the dog-observance practitioner, said this to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, this Puṇṇa the Koliyaputta is a cow-observance practitioner; that cow observance has been fully undertaken by him for a long time. What is his destination? What is his future state?"
"Assuredly, Seniya, I am not getting this from you: 'Enough, Seniya, let that be; do not ask me that.' Nevertheless, I shall answer you. Here, Seniya, someone develops the cow observance fully and without interruption; he develops the virtue (sīla) of a cow fully and without interruption; he develops the mind (citta) of a cow fully and without interruption; he develops the behavior of a cow fully and without interruption. Having developed the cow observance fully and without interruption, having developed the virtue of a cow fully and without interruption, having developed the mind of a cow fully and without interruption, having developed the behavior of a cow fully and without interruption, with the breaking up of the body, after death, he reappears in the companionship of cows. But if he holds such a view as this: 'By this virtue, or observance, or austerity (tapa), or holy life (brahmacariya), I shall become a deva or a certain one among the devas' — that is wrong view (micchādiṭṭhi) on his part. For one of wrong view, Seniya, I declare one of two destinations: hell (niraya) or the animal womb (tiracchānayoni). Thus, Seniya, the cow observance, when it succeeds, leads to the companionship of cows; when it fails, it leads to hell."
When this was said, Puṇṇa the Koliyaputta, the cow-observance practitioner, cried and shed tears.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.