[599] "Suppose, headman (gāmaṇi), a man were to throw a great broad stone into a deep pool of water. Then a great crowd of people, having gathered and assembled, would pray to it, extol it, and circumambulate it with palms joined in reverence, saying: 'Emerge, good broad stone! Float up, good broad stone! Float up onto dry land, good broad stone!' What do you think, headman: would that broad stone, because of the praying of that great crowd of people, or because of their extolling, or because of their circumambulating with palms joined in reverence, emerge, or float up, or float up onto dry land?"
"Surely not, venerable sir."
"Even so, headman, as for that person who destroys living beings, takes what is not given, engages in sexual misconduct, speaks falsely, speaks divisively, speaks harshly, indulges in idle chatter, is covetous, has a mind of ill will, and holds wrong view — even though a great crowd of people, having gathered and assembled, were to pray for him, extol him, and circumambulate him with palms joined in reverence, saying: 'May this person, with the breaking up of the body, after death, be reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world' — still that person, with the breaking up of the body, after death, would be reborn in a plane of misery, a bad destination, the lower world, hell."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.