Shiva & Animal Sacrifice

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

I have seen that in all village deity temples where blood sacrifice of goats and birds take place,they give the same Vibhudhi(ash powder) as prasad which is given in Pure Veg Shiva temples.

 

Does it mean those village deites are the real Bhutaas present around Shiva?

 

It throws some truth on the notion that Shiva in Kala Bhairava expansion will eat meat,drink wine etc.

 

But regarding Lord Vishnu we dont find any of his relation with village deities.Also Vishnu related things are away from blood.But Shiva wears animal skin and Kali's form is very horrifying.Does this all mean Vishnu is Supreme?

 

Please clarify esp Shiva devotees.

Please note this is my genuine doubt and I dont speculate on Vishnu's or Shiva's supremacy.

[bhadramoorthi]

Your question is like this:

 

I have seen that the lion eats the meat of deer and other animals but i have never seen an elephant killing and eating animals.

 

Does this mean that an elephant is greater than the lion?

and also the lioness' form is very horrifying.

[Guest guest]

does animal sacrifice still occur? i think that's a rather outdated practice dont you think? and didnt buddah preach against this.

[ggohil]

I could never understand how can a taking of a helpless life by a Human could be seen as divine and then view the practice as pleasing all powerful Supreme or a Deity.

[Guest guest]

Sacrifice is supported by Vishnu aswell, If you recall the Mahabharata story, Arjuna sacrificed one of his son before the war begin. they did a pooja for the war to be successfully won by the pandavas thus sacrificing one of his sons. And lord krishna was with the Pandavas, he would have advised Arjuna not to do it if it's not important But he didnt. Therefore it was done with his approval. Because Pandavas followed everyword Lord Krishna told them to do.

 

But i dont know for which god they sacrificed Arjuna's son for.

 

But sacrificies do happen nowerdays too, But for Kali.

 

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I also heard of that story but I feel one thing sir.

 

Every purana story is manipulated by village people and according to their nature they attribute certain tamasic qualities to even Bhagavan Vishnu.Its a sort of seeking justification for their acts.

 

To be precise,they want to show that only human race is of concern to Bhagavan and all other creatures we can play with,show our valour and enjoy killing them.

 

But in case of Shiva and worship,it is prevalent fully and in case of Vishnu,they try to connect his Avataras to such non sense things.(because unlike Shiva,the Vishnu form is beyond their concept).

 

In Srimad Bhagavatam,which is ultimate on the authoriy of Krishna's pastimes this story is not there.

 

Thankyou!!

 

Hare Krishna!!!!

[Guest guest]

I don't recall seeing or hearing any such story of arjun sacrificing his son.

 

The Pandavs won the war simply because Krishna was with them at every step.

 

- The sacrifices they used to make, such as the AshwaMedha Yagna (Horse sacrifice), was for the benefit of the soul trapped inside the body of that Horse. Upon completition of the Yagna that soul, becuse of the purity and power of the chanted mantras, and shlokas, etc., immediately got transferred into the body of a higher being, such as a human or demi-god etc.

 

Thus, giving that soul salvation from the body of an animal was the karmic/vedic duty was a great pious activity and thus the fruit of that activity was equally great.

 

In this day and age people live in ignorance and hence they don't have sufficient purity to be able to recite/chant with the discipline required to perform such Yagnas and thus performing such sacrifices becomes an act of sin instead of a pious act.

 

Best Wishes

Jagdish

[Guest guest]

"I don't recall seeing or hearing any such story of arjun sacrificing his son. "

 

me too

[markandeya]

Sorry folks Iam only stating what i have read, There are several flavours of mahabharata. I cant even believe that nowerdays there is even different catogories of Hindus. Hindus that believe Maha Vishnu is the supreme god and Hindus that believe Parama Shiva as the Supreme god. For me they are both in my heart and iam devoted to both of them. But he is the summary of the event.

 

"Aravaan is the illicit son of Arjuna and a tribal girl, Chitrankadhai. Aravaan's existence is not acknowledged by the Pandavas. On the eve of the Great War Krishna advises the Pandavas that only a human sacrifice will assure them success on the battlefield. The sacrificial victim should be of noble descent and possess all virtues. Nobody knows a proper candidate, until Krishna remembers Arjuna's son. Arjuna goes back to the forest to bring Aravaan 'home'. Krishna then convinces Aravaan of the importance of the sacrifice. Eager to please his new found father Aravaan enthusiastically volunteers. His family asks him what favour he would like in return and Aravaan says he would like to be married. Not being able to find a bride for a bridegroom who is about to be killed, Krishna turns himself into a woman and becomes Aravaan's wife for a night. At dawn, the next day Aravaan is sacrificed."

 

 

Best Regards,

[ggohil]

“Sacrifice is supported by Vishnu aswell, If you recall the Mahabharata story, Arjuna sacrificed one of his son before the war begin”

 

I wonder why we did not carry on this practice of sacrificing innocent Human or family members, especially if it is supported by Vishnu!!

 

[Guest guest]

u will not get the true answer unless u think with out bias, taking into consideration the environmental situation of the sacrificial ground....

[ggohil]

“u will not get the true answer unless u think with out bias, taking into consideration the environmental situation of the sacrificial ground....”

 

A personal sacrifice to achieve something appears logical, but to sacrifice someone else’s life is really beyond my understanding, irrespective of environmental of sacrificial ground….

 

Why would a supreme, who is the source of everything and everything is within him, is pleased when one life sacrifices a life of someone else? Where is the divinity in it?

 

[bhadramoorthi]

"Why would a supreme, who is the source of everything and everything is within him, is pleased when one life sacrifices a life of someone else? Where is the divinity in it? "

 

Offerings are made by men according to their needs.

If there is some sin associated with an offering, the performer will and must suffer its bad-effects either in this birth or in the coming ones.

[ggohil]

"If there is some sin associated with an offering, the performer will and must suffer its bad-effects either in this birth or in the coming ones."

 

I still fail to see how can anyone consider an act of taking someone’s life as a sinless act. That's like saying in the name of Lord I shall kill you, sound familier.

 

If sin is asscociated with offering or sacrifice then how can the act be termed "offering or a sacrifce to the Lord".

 

[markandeya]

In one section of the Mahabharata story, Arjuna and Krishna helped Agni to consume the Khandava Forest. In that forest every animals, birds, and other living things tried to escape But krishna and Arjuna stopped them from escaping and Agni engulfed them. Arjuna and Krishna used their weapons to even stop Indra from raining down the forest. Thus all LIVING THINGS was sacrificed to Agni. Thus everyone is claiming Krishna would never support sacrifice or harm innocent, But what about the living entities in that forest (are they evil) ?

 

I just really need a good explanation why Krishna did that ?

I tried to read that stroy several times but i cant understand why Arjuna and Krihna did that. I know that Agni in return gave them both powerful weapons. So thus the great weapons are needed for Arjuna to win the war, so Krishna new this beforehand therefore these animals has to be sacrified for that purpose?

 

Could they have done it if the rest of the Pandavas was in that forest ?

 

Thank you, can someone please give more feedback about this story.

 

 

Best Regards,

 

[Guest guest]

The reason Agni needed to burn freely in khandave forest was 'cos it had grown dull and lethargic because of all the ghee he consumes during the innumerous yagas. You have to remember that Agni is the basis of a civilisation, without agni it is doomed. Recall that in the Greek mythology Prometheus was punished for having brought fire to men, as it was one of the powers held by the gods. Without fire we would have been doomed. This could be one of the reasons Krishna agreed to such a burning. Also remember that Agni went to Arjuna for assistance and not krishna. And in the form of a brahmana when help was asked, a kshatriya cannot deny him as it is his dharma. This could also be the reason.

[Ruthvik Reddy]

the symbolism of the shiva-shakthi is to be understood here, not just in india but through out the world there are many primitive cultures with similar beliefs and practices, man as a primitive being sees "life" is a product of the union (be it the union between male and the female or the union between the sun and the earth that caused fertility) so the primary assumption of well-being is fertility. you will have to understand it here that humans go to god for fertility and well-being so did the ancient people think. hence they started worshiping the elements that leads to fertility be it phallic structures or the forces of nature. hence shiva and shakthi are none other than the symbolic interpretations of male and female genitals. the lingam and yoni.. the union of both leads to fertility. and inorder to please the forces in which the ligam is to be considered and supreme which needs to be nourised with energy every time. hence there was sacrifices of animals and even humans in ancient periods, as such many animals and humans were killed before the phallic structures for the nourishment. as such we see a ox sitting before the linga, in ancient time the bull was sacrifices and later on the sacrifices moderated to castration before the linga as offering the male energy to god, and the purpose of castrating ox for agricultural purpose was also fulfilled. and in recent time ie. after buddhism and christianity the practice of such rituals were moderated and stopped.. still in some parts of the country the tradition goes on..