[601] "Suppose, headman (gāmaṇi), a man, having plunged into a deep pool of water, were to break open a pot of ghee or a pot of oil. Whatever gravel or potsherds were in it would go downward, and whatever ghee or oil was in it would rise upward. Then a great crowd of people, having gathered and assembled, would pray to it, extol it, and walk around it with hands raised in reverence, saying: 'Sink, good ghee-and-oil! Sink down, good ghee-and-oil! Go downward, good ghee-and-oil!' What do you think, headman? Would that ghee-and-oil, on account of the prayers of the great crowd, on account of their extolling, or on account of their walking around it with hands raised in reverence, sink, or sink down, or go downward?"
"Certainly not, venerable sir."
"Even so, headman, when a man abstains from the destruction of life, abstains from taking what is not given, abstains from sexual misconduct, abstains from false speech, abstains from divisive speech, abstains from harsh speech, abstains from idle chatter, is without covetousness, has a mind (citta) free from ill will, and holds right view — even though a great crowd of people, having gathered and assembled, might pray for him, extol, and walk around him with hands raised in reverence, saying: 'May this man, with the breaking up of the body, after death, be reborn in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, the lower world, hell!' — nevertheless that man, with the breaking up of the body, after death, would be reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.