Hinduism and animal sacrifice

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*http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap23.htm*

*Is Sacrificial Killing Justified?

**(HinduDharma: The Vedas)

 

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*A yaga or sacrifice takes shape with the chanting of the mantras, the

invoking of the deity and the offering of havis (oblation). The mantras are

chanted (orally) and the deity is meditated upon (mentally). The most

important material required for homa is the havis offered in the sacrificial

fire-- in this " work " the body is involved. So, altogether, in a **sacrificial

offering*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#`SACRIFICIAL

OFFERING>* mind, speech and body (mano-vak-kaya) are brought together. *

 

*Ghee (clarified butter) is an important ingredient of the oblation. While

ghee by itself is offered as an oblation, it is also used to purify other

sacrificial materials - in fact this is obligatory. In a number of

sacrifices the vapa(fat or marrow) of animals is offered. *

 

*Is the performance of a sacrifice sinful, or is it meritorius? Or is it

both? *

 

*Madvacharya was against the killing of any pasu for a sacrifice. In his

compassion he said that a substitute for the vapa must be made with flour

and offered in the fire. ( " Pasu " does not necessarily mean a cow. In

Sanskrit any animal is called a " pasu " . )*

 

*In his Brahmasutra, Vyasa has expounded the nature of the Atman as found

expressed in the Upanishads which constitute the

**jnanakanda*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#JNANAKANDA

&

KARMAKANDA>* of the Vedas. The actual conduct of sacrifices is dealt with in

the Purvamimamsa which is the

**karmakanda*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#JNANAKANDA

&

KARMAKANDA>* of the Vedas. The true purpose of sacrifices is explained in

the Uttaramimamsa, that is the jnanakanda. What is this purposse or goal? It

is the cleansing of the consciousness and such cleansing is essential to

lead a man to the path of jnana. *

 

*The Brahmasutra says: " **Asuddhamiti cen na

sabdat*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#CEN NA

SABDAT>

* " . The performance of sacrifices is based on scriptural authority and it is

part of the quest for Self realisation. So how can it be called an impure

act? How do we determine whether or not an object or an act is impure or

whether it is good or bad? We do so by judging it according to the authority

of of the sastras. Vyasa goes on to state in his Brahmasutra that animal

sacrifice is not sinful since the act is permeated by the sound of the

Vedas. What is pure or impure is to be known by the authority provided by

the Vedas or rather their sound called Sabdapramana. If sacrifices were

impure acts according to the Vedas, they would not have accepted them as

part of the Atmic quest. Even if the sacrificial animal is made of flour

(the substitute according to Madhvacharya) it is imbued with life by the

chanting of the Vedic mantras. Would it not then be like a living animal and

would not offering it in a sacrifice be taken as an act of violence? *

 

*Tiruvalluvar says in his Tirukkural that not to kill an animal and eat it

is better than performing a thousand sacrifices in which the oblation is

consigned to the fire. You should not take this to mean that the poet speaks

ill of sacrifices. *

 

*What is in accordance or in pursuance of dharma must be practised howsoever

or whatsoever it be. Here questions of violence must be disregarded. The

Tirukkural says that it is better not to kill an animal than perform a

thousand sacrifices. From this statement it is made out that Tiruvalluvar

condemns sacrifices. According to Manu himself conducting one asvamedha

(horse sacrifice) is superior to performing a thousand other sacrifices. At

the same time, he declares that higher than a thousand horse sacrifices is

the fact of one truth. If we say that one thing is better than another, the

implication is that both are good. If the performance of a sacrifice were

sinful, would it be claimed that one meritorious act is superior to a

thousand sinful deeds? You may state that fasting on one Sivaratri is

superior to fasting on a hundred Ekadasis. But would you say that the same

is better than running a hundred butcheries? When you remark that " this rite

is better than that rite or another " , it means that the comparison is among

two or more meritorious observances. *

 

*In the **concluding

passage*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#CONCLUDING

PASSAGE

OF THE CHANDOGYA UPANISAD>* of the Chandogya Upanishad whwre ahimsa or

non-violence is extolled you find these words, " Anyatra tirthebhyah " . It

means ahimsa must be practised except with regard to Vedic rites. *

 

*Considerations of violence have no place in sacrifices and the conduct of

war. *

 

*If the ideal of non-violence were superior to the performance of

sacrifices, it would mean that " sacrifices are good but non-violence is

better " . The performance of a thousand sacrifices must be spoken of highly

but the practice of non-violence is to be regarded as even higher: It is in

this sense that the Kural stanza concerning sacrifices is to be interpreted.

We must not also forget that it occurs in the section on renunciation. What

the poet want to convey is that a sanyasin does better by abstaining from

killing than a householder does by conducting a thousand sacrifices.

According to the sastras also a sanyasin has no right to perform sacrifices.

*

 

*There are several types of sacrifices. I shall speak about them later when

I deal with " Kalpa " (an Anga or limb of the Vedas) aaand

" **Grihasthasrama*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#THE

STAGE OF THE

HOUSEHOLDER>* " (the stage of the householder). What I wish to state here is

that animals are not killed in all sacrifices. There are a number of yagnas

in which only ghee (ajya) is offered in the fire. In some, havisyanna (rice

mixed with ghee) is offered and in some the cooked grains called " caru " or

" purodasa " , a kind of baked cake. In

**agnihotri*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#AGNIHOTRA

, AUPASANA

, SOMAYAJNA , VAJAPEYA>* milk is poured into the fire; in

**aupasana*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#AGNIHOTRA

, AUPASANA

, SOMAYAJNA , VAJAPEYA>* unbroken rice grains (aksata) are used; and in

samidadhana the sticks of the palasa (flame of the forest). In sacrifices in

which the vapa of animals is offered, only a tiny bit of the remains of the

burnt offering is partaken of - and of course in the form of prasada. *

 

*One is enjoined to perform twenty-one sacrifices. These are of three

types:pakayajna, haviryajna and

**somayajna*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#AGNIHOTRA

, AUPASANA

, SOMAYAJNA , VAJAPEYA>*. In each category there are seven subdivisions. In

all the seven pakayajnas as well as in the first five haviryajnas there is

no animal sacrifice. It is only from the sixth haviryajna onwards (it is

called " nirudhapasubandha " ) that animals are sacrificed. *

 

* " Brahmins sacrificed herds and herds of animals and gorged themselves on

their meat. The Buddha saved such herds when they were being taken to the

sacrificial altar, " we often read such accounts in books. To tell the

truth, there is no sacrifice in which a large number of animals are killed.

For **vajapeya*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#AGNIHOTRA

, AUPASANA

, SOMAYAJNA , VAJAPEYA>* which is the highest type of yajna performed by

Brahmins, only twenty-three animals are mentioned. For asvamedha (horse

sacrifice), the biggest of the sacrifices conducted by imperial rulers, one

hundred animals are mentioned. *

 

*It is totally false to state that Brahmins performed sacrifices only to

satisfy their appetite for meat and that the talk of pleasing the deities

was only a pretext. There are rules regarding the meat to be carved out from

a sacrificial animal, the part of the body from which it is to be taken and

the quantity each

**rtvik*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#RTVIK>

* can partake of as prasada (idavatarana). This is not more than the size of

a pigeon-pea and it is to be swallowed without anything added to taste.

There may be various reasons for you to attack the system of sacrifices but

it would be preposterous to do so on the score that Brahmins practised

deception by making them a pretext to eat meat. *

 

*Nowadays a large number of animals are slaughtered in the laboratories as

guinea-pigs. Animal sacrifices must be regarded as a little hurt caused in

the cause of a great ideal, the welfare of mankind. As a matter of fact

there is no hurt caused since the animal sacrificed attains to an elevated

state. *

 

*There is another falsehood spread these days, that Brahmins performed the

somayajnas only as a pretext to drink somarasa (the essence of the soma

plant). Those who propagate this lie add that drinking somarasa is akin to

imbibing liquor or wine. As a matter of fact somarasa is not an intoxicating

drink. There is a reference in the Vedas to Indra killing his foe when he

was " intoxicated " with somarasa. People who spread the above falsehoods have

recourse to "

**arthavada*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#ARTHAVADA>

* " and base their perverse views on this passage. *

 

*The principle on which the physiology of deities is based is superior to

that of humans. That apart, to say that the priests drank bottle after

bottle of somarasa or pot after pot is to betray gross ignorance of the

Vedic dharma. The soma plant is pounded and crushed in a small mortar called

" graha " . There are rules with regard to the quantity of essence to be

offered to the gods. The small portion that remains after the oblation has

been made, " huta-sesa " , which is drunk drop by drop, does not add up to more

than an ounce. No one has been knocked out by such drinking. They say that

somarasa is not very

**palatable*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#NOT

VERY PALATABLE>

*. . *

 

*The preposterous suggestion is made that somarasa was the coffee of those

times. There are Vedic mantras which speak about the joy aroused by drinking

it. This has been misinterpreted. While coffee is injurious to the mind,

somarasa cleanses it. It is absurd to equate the two. The soma plant was

available in plenty in ancient times. Now it is becoming more and more

scarce: this indeed is in keeping with the decline of Vedic dharma. In

recent years, the **Raja of

Kollengode*<http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm#KOLLENGODE>

* made it a point to supply the soma plant for the soma sacrifice wherever

it was held. *

 

**

*About " Hindu Dharma " * ** ** ** ** ** * " Hindu Dharma " is a book which

contains English translation of certain invaluable and engrossing speeches

of Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji (at various times

during the years 1884 to 1994).

For a general background, please **see

here*<http://www.kamakoti.org/newlayout/template/hindudharma.html/0/1/hindu/Gene\

ral>

* *