Matsya Purana 48.49

48.49

vṛṣabha uvāca.
nāsmākaṃ vidyate. tāta! pātakaṃ steyameva ca.
bhakṣyābhakṣyaṃ tathā caiva peyāpeyaṃ tathaiva ca.. 48.49 ..

The ox said :—“Sire! I have committed neither any sin nor theft. There is no hard and fast rule laid down to dictate to us, animals, what to eat and what not to eat, what to drink and what not to drink. Many of these duties are imposed on bipeds, and not on us, the quadrupeds. We are not guided by any such restrictions as to what should be done and what should not be done; and whom we should approach for sexual intercourse and whom not.”—49-50. Sûta said:—Hearing from the ox the natural laws of cattle, he released him from his grasp. Afterwards, he fed him with corn, etc.—51.