A Guest Post by Gayatri Sankar
The
I have spent 17 years of my life in Kolkata. Kolkata is famous for its
Secondly since I am a Brahmin and have been taught not too eat meat, I was scandalized. I looked around then asked my mother what it was and she said that a goat has been sacrificed by someone to please Kali Devi. I asked her "wouldn't it have hurt the Goat? Wouldn't the have cried of pain?" She said humans are turning inhuman. It was then that I developed apathy towards the temple. I never felt like paying a visit to that temple ever again.
As I grew up, I realized what people were doing in the name of God, to satisfy their baseless whims and fancies.
There are many temples across
By writing about the "
Many non-followers of Hinduism think that Hinduism preaches and practices the concept of sacrificing a life. But this is not the case.
We must condemn such anti-social activities and help our faith getting polluted and ridiculed.
(This article has been written by Gayatri Sankar, an avid read of our blog. It has not been edited and the views expressed are of Gayatri. )
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15 comments:
Hi Gayatri….animal sacrifice has no place in modern civilized society and it should be condemned and banned. But the sad part is that it takes place around the world and is not limited to Hinduism.
It will only stop the day when all the people realize that Divine is present in all animate and inanimate.
Animal sacrifice is primarily meant to suffice the ego and the false belief of the person who offers the sacrifice – often to please a particular deity and make material gains.
Animal sacrifice is never performed for spiritual reasons; the main reason is material gains….
And it must be noted that animal sacrifice is performed by educated people too.
Hi there,
Came across your blog on a search. Nice place you got going on here. Keep it up.
Btw, mind sharing how you got the gmail address logo - Been trying to get it for my blog as well.
Cheers,
River of Karma
From time immemorial humans have sacrificed other living beings to please their object of worship. Humans may want to placate deities, spirits, ancestors, etc. The prophet Abraham wanted to sacrifice his son but instead this was replaced by an animal. The sacrificing of animals is considered good and necessary in some traditions to satisfy the deity consisting of rituals sometimes with pageantry before the sacrifice. Big feasts are held after this event with much gaiety. Somehow by doing this the deity or spirit will come to a temporary rest or will bestow favours upon the assembled.
In the Lords prayer bread is asked for on a daily basis (One opinion is that this is the body of the perishable human prophet Jesus Christ who from one point of view died helplessly on the cross. Another opinion is that the daily bread represents food sustenance)
In the Mandate of Heaven tradition of the Han Chinese a good harvest/grains are asked for. Grains are the seeds that sprout into cereals but when in the seed stage they do not seem to be alive.
Most humans eat grains which provide carbohydrate that gives energy for humans to function; god the scientific wonder.
In a similar fashion as animal sacrifice, some customs encourage the killing of humans to please god and to gain favours with humans bearing a likeness to animals.
Ms.Gayatri Sankar is shocked by animal sacrifices in temples, which is understandable, but her consequent labeling of the practice as Unhindu is problematic since many vedic scholars, in particular Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji of the Sri Kanchi Kanchi Kamakothi Peetham consider sacrifices an essential ritual. Swamiji's views can be found in this website : http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap23.htm . I am quoting a portion of the article below:
"The Brahmasutra says: 'Asuddhamiti 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?"
Before going to Puranas....the first mantra in Isha Upanishad needs to be understood....
Ishavasyam Idam Sarvam Yat Kim Cha Jagatyam Jagat
Tena Tyaktena bhunjitha, ma gradha kasyasvid dhanam
Know that all this whatever moves in this moving world is enveloped by God.
Therefore find your enjoyment in renunciation, do not covet what belongs to others..
How can we kill an animal and sacrifice it to God, when that very same animal is having divine presence?
There is no need to dig into scriptures to defend a current practice....
Killing or hurting another being for fun, or sacrifice is not justifiable...
Hi River of Karma...you can generate e-mail logo from this website...http://services.nexodyne.com/email/
Dear Ar Chaudhari. Even if it is stated in the Vedas and Vedangas these kinds of practices need not be practiced, rather I would like them to be banned. And pray tell me how many live as laid down in the Vedas and Vedangas. Many practices have changed. Then why not this too. I am a devout hindu who abhor these kind of practices. I feel that this Eternal Religion is not static. It is changing and evolving according to the needs of times. Animal or any kind of sacrifices, caste system and all other evil practices should be discouraged, rather banned.
In W. Bengal the Communists are ruling for a long period. I wonder why they have not banned this practice.
Dear Mr. KSV SUBRAMANIAN,
I was pointing out that Ms. Gayatri Sankar's claim that bali has nothing to do with Hinduism might be incorrect.
Next I would rather have changes in the Hindu society come from within, rather than being imposed by a secular government. If you want the government to restrict the religious freedom of others, you should not be surpised when they take over temples and dictate the language of the prayers.
For a secular government it should not matter whether an animal is first offered to a God before killed for food, the government should not ban non vegetarian food either.
However those who are squeamish about animal sacrifices and consider it immoral should be free to proselytize people to their point of view.
UNLESS NON-VEGETARIANISM ENDS, THE KILLING OF ANIMALS WILL NOT END. IT DOES NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHETHER AN ANIMAL IS SACRIFICED(AND LATER ON EATEN)OR JUST KILLED AN EATEN. SACRIFICE OF ANIMALS IS DONE BY ALL RELIGIOIONS. EID AL ADHA IS A GOOD EXAMPLE.
ONLY WHEN THE HUMAN BEING REALISES THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN ANIMALS ALSO THE KILLING OF ANIMALS WILL BE STOPPED.
YOU CAN ONLY THINK OF LEGISLATING TO STOP WRONG HINDU PRACTICES. "SECULAR" PARTIES NEVER THINK OF LEGISLATING TO STOP WRONG PRACTICES ADOPTED BY NON-HINDUS. SHAH BANO CASE IS A SHINING EXAMPLE WHERE THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA PASSED A LEGISLATION TO ANNUL A SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT WHICH WAS FAIR TO A DIVORCED LADY.
KILLING THE ANIMALS MUST STOP. BUT IT WILL NEVER BE STOPPED AS LONG AS HUMAN BEINGS ENJOY DOING IT FOR FOOD OR SACRIFICE OR ANY OTHER REASON.
Hi Abhilash,
I was going thru the details of Ashwamedha Yagna so I wanted to get a clarification from your end...the article that I read states that this Yagna was performed even by King Dasharatha...It was Kaushalya who slained the horse as per the rituals mentioned in the Vedic Scriptures...Just wanted to know were Horses along with other animals (609 in number)...sacrificed? Did it really mean sacrificing animals literally? If yes, then why are Brahmins not suppossed to eat meat? I want to know for my knowledge...
Ashwamedha Yagna finds mention several times in the Puranas and other scriptures. Yes at the end of the Yagna the horse is sacrificed. Sacrificing animals for materialistic gains is mentioned in many places.
Symbolic meaning is suggested by numerous scholars but several scholars are also of view that the animals were sacrificed.
Regarding the questioning of not eating meat. This has to do a lot with the teaching of Buddha and Mahavira (Jain). Brahmins as a priestly class was rejected by the people due to the costly rituals and other means of propitiating gods which took away the wealth of the common man.
Buddha and Mahavira changed the dependence on rituals and introduced new form of worship and philosophical ideas. But the priestly class that rose in Buddhism and Jainism destroyed it and the Brahmins got a chance to win back the people.
They adopted the good ideas of Buddha and Mahavira which were accepted by the people and non-injury and non-killing of animals and abstaining from eating meat was one of them.
This is what i feel about it.
Thanks for your feedback Abhilash but theres one thing which I need to undertand thoroughly...Smriti and Sruti are compilations of the messages of God...Am I right...it was then that the Vedas were compilied.....I cannot digest the fact that animal sacrifice was mentioned in the Vedic Scriptures...even if it was ti gain materialistic gains...it could have been manipulated as well...because the great saints and the Rishis (as far as my knowledge goes)were people who had meditated to an extent of getting enlightened and then receiving god's messages which were then penned down as Vedas.....how could these people even mentioned animal sacrifice?...it might have been manipulated eventually by the followers to gain prosperity and popularity...what do you say?
Yes true….what we have today in written form was orally taught for centuries. By the time it was written it might have undergone several changes. What we can get from them is the essence of the original teachings.
But truth cannot be kept hidden. It will come out and the ancient seers had beautifully expressed it in the Upanishads. The unparalleled teachings of Santana Dharma is well preserved in the Upanishads.
the very fact that Brahman exists in all living and non-living beings is enough to prove that there is no place for anything called literal animal sacrifice...fasting is also a form of sacrifice...this might have existed since the very begining...but certainly not life sacrifice...because everything is a part of the Brahman...and to kill the brahman in the other is a crime...
i just came across this blog today, so sorry for teh extremely delayed comment.
why are you surprised that vedic people did animal sacrifices? kShatriyas ate meat even then. kings went on hunt, what did they do with the killed deer, boar etc? cooked and ate it of course.
vedas are very old. so the practices at that time would have been of having a nice barbeque after the hunt. this was not daily, not indiscriminate.
even the native americans would pray for the animal before killing it, something like - "you and i have the same life breath, but i need your energy, life lives on through me."
please don't be so naive as to think that humans have never eaten meat.
rAma too would have eaten meat, as a kShatriya. what did kevaTa the fisherman offer rAma?
now, should you stop believing and following everything that our scriptures have to say? that would be so silly and immature.
one of the reason why veda were restricted to brAhamaNas for teaching and dwija for learning was this - unhealthy doze of misinterpretation, jumping to conclusions and spread of false notions.
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