Animal sacrifice – how Veda Dharma views it?

Violence is not supported by Hindu Dharma.
The Ultimate Dharma is "Ahimsa" – "Ahimsa ParamO dharma:"
The only place where violence is supported is mentioned in the last verse of Chandogya Upanishad, that says that Violence is not permitted except in the cases where it is done for Vedic dharma.
There is a saying – Vaidee himsa, na himsa – meaning violence done in the process of Vedic purpose, is not violence. But this does not hold good in Kali yuga and no animal sacrifice is authorized in Kali yuga.


Killing cow is adharmic. But killing a cow that charges towards one to kill is dharmic.
Killing a life is adharmic. But killing a life for the sake of a dharma of Vedic nature that is done for the benefit of many is not adharmic.
This is the rationale behind sacrifices in Vedic yajnas.

Before going into further details, let me quote from the foreword (Urai peru katturai) of Silappadhikaram, where Ilango adigal says that the Pandyan king who came after Nedumchezhiyan, performed a shanthi pooja to pacify Kannagi to get relief for the people who were suffering form the after effects of the fire and for getting rainfall to cool Madurai. Adigal says that the king sacrificed 1000 goldsmiths in this pooja!!

Why were 1000 goldsmiths killed in the pooja?
If the wrong doer were to be punished, he must have punished the goldsmith who did the deceit. Why sacrifice other innocent ones also?
But then Kannagi also did an unjust act of killing many innocent citizens in the fire who were not at all connected with the wrong done to Kovalan.
Is what Kannagi did right?

Deep thinking and intricate analysis are needed to find convincing replies to these questions.

But the rationale is that to bring down the effect of heat and her anger, the sacrifices were done. It resulted in a downpour that wiped off the heat, drought and sufferings of people!
This is purpose of the Yajna.

Yajna means worship done by give and take.
You offer something in a yajna to get back something.
What you offer is related to what you want to get.
It is like supplementing a deficiency.
If you have weak bones, you gulp calcium tablets.
If your blood count is low, you take food to improve blood count.
In this way sacrifices were done to get back a specific thing.
This is the way Nature works.
This was captured by Vedic wisdom and done for common welfare.

The body is identified on the basis of basic Dhathus (elements) that are localized in specific parts. For instance fats stand for Jupiter and for pushti and growth. One wanting growth, will offer fats in the yajna. If one wants to reap benefits of Jupiter or the lord of Jupiter, he will have to offer fats specifically meant for that.

The Vedic sacrifices are fashioned on this basis and the offering was done connected with the specific goal desired. So, many items of that dhatu were offered in vedic fire and the related body part is also one among them. That is how the animal sacrifice came into practice.

Certain life forms were identified as "Yajna pashu'

They are goat, horse, cow, all species of birds, domestic or wild, and herbs and plants.

The seven domestic animals approved for sacrifices are cow, goat, man, horse, sheep, mule, and ass.

The seven wild ones are lion, tiger, boar, buffalo, elephant, bear, and monkey. Their specific body parts were offered in fire for specific results.

These are for kaamya phalan to attain mundane goals – that include attainment of wealth, power, acquisition of land and other desires and a place in Heaven.
The Vedas are a body of knowledge that recorded everything under the sun.

Ishtam manishana Sarvam manishana – says Purusha sooktham.
'What ever you desire can be achieved.
Everything can be achieved.'
The methods are all recorded in Vedas.
Those who desire mundane pleasures are shown the ways through such yajnas. Those who want wealth and place in Heaven do the yajnas that include sacrifice of life. But these yajnas are limited in power. They can not give ever lasting results.

The ever lasting result is the attainment Moksha – or the state of no –rebirth or communion with the Supreme Consciousness which is variously called as Sat, God, Ishwara, Brahman, Satyam etc.
It can not be attained by the above means of yajnas that show cruelty to animals.

Those who desire Supreme communion are also shown the way by Vedas which is done by means of mental yajna – meditation, japa etc.
The Choice is left to man.
In the former, the good and bad karma connected to that yajnas attach to the person for whose sake the yajna is done. He will be reborn to undergo the effect of pains caused to the sacrificed animal.
In the latter, one has to sacrifice even the punyam and all dharmas so that one is not reborn.

This is the essence of Vedas given in 2 parts – the former told through Poorva mimamsa (also known as Karma khandam) – on methods of doing yajnas to attain desired goals and the latter told through Uttara mimamsa (also known as Gyaana khandam) which is about soul's search about the Eternal Truth so that one rises above mundane searches and meditate towards attaining Final Emancipation.

This is the gist of Vedas.
If some one goes the mundane way and does this or that sacrifice, that is not the mistake of Veda dharma.
But Veda Dharma's aim is to see that all rise above the mundane searches and reach Him.

Einstein's discovery can be used to make an atom bomb to destroy the world. It can also be used to cure a remote disease. It depends what use we put into.

We must look at the yajnas and sacrifices such as Ashwa medhas in this paradigm.
Just for having discovered his theory, Einstein could not be faulted for the drop of atom bomb.
In the same way, for recording the ways of ashwamedhas etc, Vedas and Hinduism can not be faulted.

Everything is recorded and dealt with in Veda matham. Veda matham also tells what we must aspire for – through teachers, gurus, rishis, Upanishads, Brahma sutras and numerous texts such as Gita. It depends on the mental make up of the person in choosing.

Some thoughts from Mahabharata on animal sacrifice:-

At numerous places in the Hindu texts, animal sacrifice or cruelty to life as part of yajnas is condemned. In a narration by Narada there comes a story of a Brahmin in by name Satya who was doing yajnas for Vishnu for the purpose of attaining Swarga (Heaven). He never slaughtered living animals for offering them in sacrifices because of his inability to procure them. He, therefore, substituted vegetable products for those animals. His sacrifices were aimed at reaching Heaven.

One day a deer that was living near their hermitage tempted him by offering itself as a sacrifice in the yajna. Its Justification was that the animal which is sacrificed in the yajna reaches Heaven and Higher abodes. Satya did not accept its plea because that animal has been living near his hermitage for many years. He was very compassionate towards it that he refused to kill it for the yajna. When the deer failed in tempting him to sacrifice it, it changed in to Dharma deva (who came in the form of the deer) and advised Satya to pursue the path to Salvation. Such a path required Saatwic approach and not animal sacrifices nor the plant substitutes he was using.

In the words of Dharma Deva:-"This (viz., slaughter of living creatures) is not conformable to the ordinances about Sacrifices."  Narada continues, "the injuring of living creatures, therefore, forms no part of sacrifice. Abstention from injury is that religion which is complete in respect of its rewards. The religion, however, of cruelty is only thus far beneficial that it leads to heaven (which has a termination). I have spoken to thee of that religion of Truth which, indeed, is the religion of those that are utterers of Brahma.'"

The translation of this narration can be read here:-

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12b099.htm

There is another narration from Shanthi parva in Mahabharata which also denounces animal sacrifice.

This is given in the form of a dialogue between sage Kapila and sage Syumarasmi. Once King Nahusha was doing a yajna, Kapila who was present there saw the animal kept for sacrifice. He could not bear the thought of that said "Alas ye Vedas".

On hearing this, a sage named Syumarasmi entered the body of the cow that is tied for sacrifice and stared talking to Kapila as though the cow was talking. Syumarasmi puts forth the arguments for the propriety of animal sacrifice because it is by that only the yajna can be completed and the desired goal of wealth or Heavens can be achieved. Syumarasmi's argument and Kapila's reply can be read in the following links:-

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12b095.htm

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12b096.htm

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12b097.htm

Kapila quotes sages like Yajna valkya and others who attain Emancipation by yajnas such as agnihotra which do not support animal sacrifice. The cause of their Greatness is the compassion they had for all creatures.

The way to get into God's good books is by yajna of Self – meditation internally. This does not require sacrifice of any life.

Kapila also says "One who hath no fear from any creature and from whom no creature hath any fear and who constitutes himself the soul of all creatures, should be known for a Brahmana"

Anyone who abstains from cruelty to life is a Brahmin.

Such cruelty though sanctioned in Vedic yajna is not recommended by Vedas themselves as the best thing. They have been given for those who want their wishes fulfilled. Vedas insist on the limited life of such goals and recommend striving for Moksha that requires "ahimsa" as the Supreme Dharma.

In Sandhyavandana:-

That the Veda dharma / Vedic religion does not support animal sacrifices is known from the mantra for evening Sandhyavandana.

These mantras were told by sage Sunascheba when he was tied to the post for sacrifice as a substitute for an animal that became unfit in a yajna done by king Ambareesh.

It was a prayer by the sage to Varuna bhagawan to save him from being sacrificed. As a result the sage's life was spared. This mantra is uttered by all those who do the evening (saayamkaala) sandhyavandana.

This mantra is in the nature of a pleading for sparing one's life and forgiving one of the sins committed knowingly and unknowingly. The inclusion of this mantra in sandhyavanda is perhaps to remind people that one must shun cruelty to any form of life by putting oneself in the shoes of the animal that is readied for sacrifice.

Veda dharma does not support sacrifices.

The existence of both types of yajna -with and without sacrifice – is to cater to the people of different nature of satwa, rajas and tamas.

From Tamas one must rise to Satwam.

That journey is needed for Realization of the Supreme.

Tail piece:-

#  I don't want to get into the nitty gritty of ashwamedha yajna. We don't know how much of it found in texts is interpolated. I say this because the 44 th chapter of Brihat samhita deals with a yajna for horses done before a war or for victory. Varaha mihira gives all details of how this yajna was done including the stars which are ideal for this yajna. He also says that at the end of the yajna, the king rides on the horse for which the yajna was done and marches to the battle field for the fight. This is the way Ashwamedha yajna was done in the times prior to Varahamihira.

Perhaps that is the way non-violent yajna was ushered in the Kaliyuga.

#  திருக்குறள்  259

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