Namaste Singhi,
I am not a person who should talk about the Vedas either, but from my little reading about this issue, I think what you've said is correct. I have also come across the same writing from the Kanchi Paramacharya, and I take his view as the official Smarta view on the subject.
The argument that is made, however, is not that animal sacrifices did not take place in vedic ceremonies, but that they were a later introduction into the yajnas. In other words, it was the widespread ignorance of the kaliyuga that brought animal sacrifice into the Vedic rituals. This was the view held, for example, by Maharshi Dayananda of Arya Samaj. The Nastika arguments against animal sacrifice may have played a key role in ridding of the practice in vedic ceremonies. There was once a belief that the animal would go directly to heaven if sacrificed in a vedic ritual. The Lokayata materialists had criticized this belief by saying something like, "if the sacrificed animal goes directly to heaven, why not sacrifice your father instead."
I think one difference between the Vedic method and Tantric method of sacrifice is how the animal is killed. In the Vedic method, the animal was strangled. In the Tantric method, it's a single blow (jhatka method). Guru Gobind Singh also recommended the his followers (Sikhs) only eat animals killed by the jhatka method (as opposed to the Islamic halal bloodletting), but then again he was well-versed in Shakta practices.Tantras or Shakta Agamas ofcourse endorse the practice for the Vira Sadhak in vamachara stage. One cannot do justice to hindu rituals without practicing them ~ I am very sure , bali has great psychological impact on the practitioner.
In Indian Hinduism, due to the puritanical and ahimsa movements of the last 2000 years or so, animal sacrifice is now a minority thing, and largely considered a tamasik act (at least by those who shun it). It may be surprising to know that in Balinese Hinduism, animal sacrifice is a mainstream ritual practiced in almost every temple. Ahimsa movement has also arrived there, and now the society, I'm told, is divided on the issue.
OM Shanti,
A.
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