5,000 buffaloes slaughtered in Nepal's animal sacrifice ritual

[Anirudh]

Namaste HDF

What kind of Hinduism followed in Nepal. I have seen animal sacrifice in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Most likely this practice is followed all over India.

How can GOD be pleased with Animal slaughter?


In the past we had discussed about Ashwamedha Yagna and Humam Sacrifices.

If this is acceptable then how are we different from Islam or Christianity which doesn't prohibit Animal Sacrifice.

[axlyz]

Namaste HDF

What kind of Hinduism followed in Nepal. I have seen animal sacrifice in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Most likely this practice is followed all over India.

How can GOD be pleased with Animal slaughter?


In the past we had discussed about Ashwamedha Yagna and Humam Sacrifices.

If this is acceptable then how are we different from Islam or Christianity which doesn't prohibit Animal Sacrifice.

You are right. I fail to see how God can enjoy these types of acts.

[R Gitananda]

Namasthe

How many more buffaloes are slaughtered in India for it to be the world's top exporter of beef? I am vegetarian but I have heard that an animal that is slaughtered in sacrifice gets a better rebirth.

Hari Aum

A recent report by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of USDA states that for the second year in a row in 2013 India will be the world’s largest beef exporter has drawn attention to the meat trade industry. . . India’s beef export prominence has been recent with exports of only 672,000 MT in 2008, 607,000 MT in 2009 and 917,000 MT in 2010. Much of India’s beef is from buffalo and increased demand for milk has led to a larger beef supply. According to the U.S. Agricultural Attaché in India, domestic per capita consumption of buffalo beef is only about 4.4 pounds year and about 2.0 MMT total. Federal and state laws prohibit the slaughter of cattle for religious reasons, but slaughter is allowed for buffalo bulls and unproductive heifers. http://www.rachellaudan.com/2012/10/...f-beef-is.html

[Believer]

Namaste,

.....I have heard that an animal that is slaughtered in sacrifice gets a better rebirth.

Propagation of such things does not bring any credit to ourselves or to the Sanatan Dharma.

First of all, I detest the term 'animal sacrifice', as the human is not making any sacrifice by killing an animal. It is the animal which is dying as a result of this ill conceived and ill advised cold blooded murder. So, I fail to understand how is the human making a sacrifice when the animal is the one losing its life.

Secondly, if the animal gets a better rebirth for getting slaughtered during a yajna, then why does the human not try the same? He could offer his life for the yajna and be reborn as a person with higher consciousness.

The so called 'animal sacrifice' has only one purpose, which is that the people performing that yajna feel like enjoying a meat dish. After all, the dead animal is not thrown away or fed to the wolves/lions. It is used as the yajna prasad by the people who make this supposed 'sacrifice'. If the humans themselves offered their lives for the sake of yajna, maybe it would be a sacrifice, but taking an animal's life for the sake of yajna is no sacrifice; it is cold blooded murder of an innocent animal to satiate one's desire to have a non-veg meal. Let us keep our thinking caps on!

Pranam.

[Anirudh]

Namaste Believer ji

I agree. It is a cold blooded murder.

Can you answer my question ? How and Why this practice is allowed in S D?

Namaste,



Propagation of such things does not bring any credit to ourselves or to the Sanatan Dharma.

First of all, I detest the term 'animal sacrifice', as the human is not making any sacrifice by killing an animal. It is the animal which is dying as a result of this ill conceived and ill advised cold blooded murder. So, I fail to understand how is the human making a sacrifice when the animal is the one losing its life.

Secondly, if the animal gets a better rebirth for getting slaughtered during a yajna, then why does the human not try the same? He could offer his life for the yajna and be reborn as a person with higher consciousness.

The so called 'animal sacrifice' has only one purpose, which is that the people performing that yajna feel like enjoying a meat dish. After all, the dead animal is not thrown away or fed to the wolves/lions. It is used as the yajna prasad by the people who make this supposed 'sacrifice'. If the humans themselves offered their lives for the sake of yajna, maybe it would be a sacrifice, but taking an animal's life for the sake of yajna is no sacrifice; it is cold blooded murder of an innocent animal to satiate one's desire to have a non-veg meal. Let us keep our thinking caps on!

Pranam.

[anucarh]

Namaste,

I know that there is a range of interpretations of how the scriptures view this issue. The Ārya Samāj, a society following the teaching of Svāmī Dayānand, says that the ritual killing of animals is not actually permitted by the Vedas, that these have been mistranslated to permit it, that it has never been permissible. Most Hindu scholars do not seem to agree. Many Vaiṣṇavas and others have argued that the ritual killing of animals is no longer permitted and not consistent with the path to liberation. Some Hindus argue that the practice must continue.

This is how I understand the issue in brief, based on my studies, but I freely admit that I am biased: The Mahābhārata tells us that in the satya yuga, the Golden Age, no one ever ritually killed animals. This is significant. In this age it is said that only good deeds occurred. Ritual animal killing is said to have been legally permissible in past ages (although most yajñas or offerings did not involve animals at all, instead involving grains, various kinds of wood, herbs, spices, fruits, etc.), but the Bhāgavata Purāṇa teaches that it was only to place limits on flesh eating among those who crave it and seek worldly benefits, not to encourage it, even then one could still receive terrible karmic results. Similarly, sages in the Matsya Purāṇa recommend offerings of fruits and vegetables instead of animals, explaining that any temporary benefits from ritual animal killing are outweighed by disastrous karmic results. The Skandha Purāṇa teaches that true bhaktas or devotees do not offer animals as sacrifices. The major Vaiṣṇava (Viṣṇu devotee) traditions of Vedānta all discourage the practice. For example, Śrī Madhvācārya only permitted the sacrifice of animal-shaped cakes, never the killing of real animals. Śrī Bhīṣma taught that merely giving up the eating of flesh is greater in merit than the performance of all sacrifices and that even if one feels one must sacrifice, one can perform sacrifices without harming animals, although the ritual killing of animals was technically permissible. He also said that ahiṁsā (nonviolence) is the highest duty. Similarly, he praised compassion for all beings, saying, "There is nothing, O delighter of the Kurus, that is equal in point of merit, either here or hereafter, to the practice of compassion to all living creatures." The great sage Tiruvaḷḷuvar, in his chapter against killing, wrote: "By sacrifice of life, some gain great wealth and welfare, but great men scorn such odious gains." In the same chapter he says that the greatest virtues are to share one's food and "to protect all living creatures." In the Bhagavad Gītā, when Lord Kṛṣṇa lists specific items that he accepts as offerings, if they're given with love, it is interesting that he mentions only "a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water." I think that his choice of words is deliberate. I think that God prefers the kinder offerings. The highest ideal has always been nonviolence, especially when it is non-harming that does not conflict with justice or the protection of innocent life.


praṇām

[Ram11]

Namaste,
The so called 'animal sacrifice' has only one purpose, which is that the people performing that yajna feel like enjoying a meat dish. After all, the dead animal is not thrown away or fed to the wolves/lions. It is used as the yajna prasad by the people who make this supposed 'sacrifice'.
Pranam.

Namaste Ji,

What you have said is not really true.No animal was sacrificed in the Yajnas for food.The texts dealing with the remainants of the Vedic Yajnas say that no more than a pea or grain size can be consumed from the leftovers of the Yajna.Why would anyone even perform a Yajna to eat a pea sized portion of meat,forget eating it it wouldn't even be sufficient to pass on for everyone to sniff it.Sri Kanchi Paramacharyaji said that that even that few miniscule grams of the meat was not eaten by adding malasa spices or by preparing Biryani with it,it was consumed as it is.So the whole idea that the Yajna bali pashu is consumed as food is a popular myth floating around.

If the humans themselves offered their lives for the sake of yajna, maybe it would be a sacrifice,

Secondly, if the animal gets a better rebirth for getting slaughtered during a yajna, then why does the human not try the same? He could offer his life for the yajna and be reborn as a person with higher consciousness.

I do not know if you know this but the exact same arguments you put forth were used by the Charvakas/Lokayatas(Materialists/Hedonists) and they were perfectly refuted by Sri Vidyaranya Mahaswami in Sarva Darshana Samgraha or Sri Madhvacaryaji in his works.

I am really sorry if I sound harsh but please understand that the so-called animal sacrifice has been dealt differently in the scriptures.

Anyways,Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah.

[Believer]

Namaste,

[SIZE=3]What you have said is not really true.No animal was sacrificed in the Yajnas for food.The texts dealing with the remainants of the Vedic Yajnas say that no more than a pea or grain size can be consumed from the leftovers of the Yajna.

I wish you would leave your books behind and look at what happens in reality. As Viraja has testified, if the villagers feel like having a non-veg meal, they "sacrifice" a goat for yajna and then enjoy the "prasad". This pea sized limit might be a scriptural thing which is not followed anywhere. They may offer a morsel of "halwa" or a 'ladoo' to the sacrificial yajna fire, but then the 'prasad' is a fist-full lump of 'halwa' or a whole 'ladoo'. Nobody observes this 'peas sized' prasad distribution, at least not among the 'kaataans' of the north.

I do not know if you know this but the exact same arguments you put forth were used by the Charvakas/Lokayatas(Materialists/Hedonists) and they were perfectly refuted by Sri Vidyaranya Mahaswami in Sarva Darshana Samgraha or Sri Madhvacaryaji in his works.

But you don't give any grounds on which this basic concept was refuted. And are you saying that Sri Vidyaranya Mahaswami and Sri Madhvacaryaji propagated animal killing as part of yajna? And, are you labeling me a materialist/hedonists? Not that it matters, as I have been called worse things in this forum. I would say it again, if you want to sacrifice a living thing in the yajna sacrificial fire, go ahead and jump into it; don't kill the poor goat/lamb. Sacrifice your life, not that of a poor animal. After all you are the one who wants to advance spiritually, not the goat.

Pranam.

[Ram11]

Namaste,


I wish you would leave your books behind and look at what happens in reality. As Viraja has testified, if the villagers feel like having a non-veg meal, they "sacrifice" a goat for yajna and then enjoy the "prasad". This pea sized limit might be a scriptural thing which is not followed anywhere. They may offer a morsel of "halwa" or a 'ladoo' to the sacrificial yajna fire, but then the 'prasad' is a fist-full lump of 'halwa' or a whole 'ladoo'. Nobody observes this 'peas sized' prasad distribution, at least not among the 'kaataans' of the north.


But you don't give any grounds on which this basic concept was refuted. And are you saying that Sri Vidyaranya Mahaswami and Sri Madhvacaryaji propagated animal killing as part of yajna? And, are you labeling me a materialist/hedonists? Not that it matters, as I have been called worse things in this forum. I would say it again, if you want to sacrifice a living thing in the yajna sacrificial fire, go ahead and jump into it; don't kill the poor goat/lamb. Sacrifice your life, not that of a poor animal. After all you are the one who wants to advance spiritually, not the goat.

Pranam.

Namaste Ji,

The question asked was 'How is this allowed in Sanatana Dharma?'.My answer was based on that question.Animal sacrifice was allowed only in the context of Vedic Yajnas.The remains of that animal was not cooked and eaten.
The pea sized rule is meant for those who have faith in that scriptures.Just because some people don't care about that rule doesn't mean the scriptures are no longer valid.It means that some individuals are not able to lead a life based on that high scriptural standards.And,that is okay because only few wish to meet the standards whereas others don't give a damn.Emphasis on Vedic Yajna.

Villagers doing something is not Sanatana Dharma,it is their own free will,their own ideas,their own beliefs and has nothing to do with Sanatana Dharma or its scriptures.No villager can provide a single quote from the texts that supports what they do.It is simply their own local belief.It is not right to accuse Sanatana Dharma of permitting animal sacrifice .Thus,anything apart from the Vedic Yajna context is not related to my answer.My reply is based on what the Sanatana Dharma's scriptural tradition says.

2.The second answer I gave was not in relation to the issue of animal sacrifice.No acharya supported animal sacrifice.By the time Sri Vidyaranya and Sri Madhvacharya arrived in this world animal sacrifice was already abhorred by orthodox scholars based on the scriptures.Vedic animal sacrifice is no longer permitted in the present Yuga.


It was about why a person doesn't sacrifice another human being or himself in a Vedic Agni.Killing other people analogy(I can't remember the exact questions but the Charvakas asked something like, a Vaidika should slay his own parents in the Yajna) was refuted by the Acaryas.Suicide is not permitted by the Vedas.So jumping into something is also not an answer.The same questions were posed by the Charvakas and they were thrown out,with appropriate answers.One should try not to use the derogatory arguments of a rival,heretic avaidika school to degrade one's own Vedic system.I only pointed out that these analogies are not proper.I know that you are not a Charvaka,you are certainly not a hedonist.My apologies if you felt I accused you thus.

*There is no scriptural support for the idea that killing an animal causes spiritual advancement*

Summing up,some things happen in this world such as animal sacrifices.Is it supported by the scriptures?ABSOLUTELY NO!
Then why is it happening?Things happen.Some times these are linked with Hinduism.But why?Because the participants maybe Hindus.

P.S.I am a pure vegetarian.I've no interest to eat meat nor am I interested in sacrificing an animal to attain something.

[Believer]

Namaste,

Thanks for the clarification.

Things happen.Some times these are linked with Hinduism.But why?Because the participants maybe Hindus.

+1

Pranam.