Animal Sacrifice

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Dear Jahnava Nitai Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

*·*All glories to Srila Prabhupada!*·*

 

Could you please give us a reference of sastra for this?

 

Your servant,

Mayapur das

 

> >What happens to the animals which have been sacrificed by mantras in a

> >yagna? Srila Prabhupada mentions that they get a new life immediately.

> >But how exactly does this occur.? Is the new body supposed to emerge

> >right in front of everyone? Does it come from the fire?

>

> Here is a discussion that occured on this topic a few months ago on the

> IndiaDivine forums:

>

> >I know from reliable sources that there is mention of meat-eating in the

> >Vedas.

>

> There are mention of various sacrifices that involve the consumption of

> animal flesh by the brahmana priests and the king. The aswa-medha yajna is

> one example, but the same scriptures which describe this yajna also say it

> is forbidden to be performed in Kali yuga.

>

> In Vedic yajnas the animal was not 'killed', but was elevated to a higher

> body. This was done to prove the efficacy of the brahmanas and the mantras

> they were chanting. The king was sacrificing huge quantities of gold and

> other valuables into the fire, and he needed some guarantee that it was

> actually being delivered to the gods, and not just being burnt up. For

> this purpose, the brahmana priests would physically demonstrate the

> efficacy of their mantras by transforming the animal into a gandharva. A

> horse would enter the fire, and a Gandharva (a heavenly human species)

> would emerge form the fire. The soul of the horse would be given a higher

> birth, and it was seen directly by the king. There still remained the

> karma of the horse to be accounted for. That horse was destined to

> traverse through many lives before he attained the body of the andharva,

> so that karma needed to be ballanced. All of those karmic reactions,

> existing between the horse body and the gandharva body, would remain in

> the flesh of the horses dead body. It was the duty of the king and the

> brahmanas to eat that flesh, and there by accept all of the karmic

> reactions within it. It is described that after eating this flesh, the

> brahmanas would lose their tejas and no longer be able to perform

> sacrifice. They would have to perform severe tapasya (austerities) in

> order to regain their tejas and shakti. The king would likewise have to

> give his entire wealth away in charity as a means to regain his tejas.

> Thus the king and brahmanas eating of flesh in the sacrifice was not an

> enjoyment, but a sacrifice they had to accept.

> [end]

>

> To read the entire thread, which is titled "Did Rama eat meat?", go to:

>

> http://www.indiadivine.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000492.html

>

> Your servant,

>

> Jahnava Nitai Das

> http://www.indiadivine.com