Talk:The Vedas:Animal Sacrifice in the Age of Kali
By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami
According to one line of argument, humanity in earlier ages possessed a much higher level of moral and spiritual refinement than is generally found in the present Kali Yuga. People acted without selfish motives, performing even difficult duties solely for the welfare of the world. Within this framework, animal sacrifices, including those involving cows and horses, and the offering of meat in Śrāddha rites were regarded as legitimate because they were undertaken without personal desire. Householders followed the Karmamārga, performing Vedic rites and sacrifices for the welfare of the world rather than for personal gain. Later in life, they renounced all ritual actions and worldly pursuits to embrace Saṃnyāsa, remaining absorbed in the contemplation of the Ātmā.
The same ideal of complete detachment is illustrated through the traditional institution of niyoga. If a king died without an heir, his brother could beget a son through the widowed queen, not out of personal desire but solely to preserve social order by ensuring succession to the throne. Such acts were considered possible only because of the extraordinary self-control and purity attributed to the people of earlier ages.
It is therefore argued that these practices are no longer suitable for the Kali Yuga, when such levels of selflessness and mastery over the senses are no longer common. The following verse is cited in support of this position:
Aśvalambhaṃ gavalambhaṃ saṃnyāsaṃ palapaitṛkam Devareṇa sutotpattiṃ kalau pañca vivarjayet.
According to one interpretation, the reading aśvalambham in this verse should be replaced by agnyādhānam. If this reading is accepted, it would imply that even sacrifices not involving animal offerings should no longer be performed. Since Agnyādhāna is the first of the Haviryajña-s, such an interpretation would amount to prohibiting virtually all major Vedic sacrifices, leaving only the smaller Pākayajña-s.
The discourse, however, rejects this interpretation. It notes that Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda, whose mission was the restoration of Vedic dharma, did not merely enjoin the daily recitation of the Vedas (Vedo nityam adhīyatām). He also instructed that the actions prescribed by the Vedas should be faithfully performed (Taduditam karma svanuṣṭhīyatām). Since sacrifices occupy a central place among Vedic rites, a complete prohibition of yajña would be inconsistent with this teaching. The discourse therefore argues that only certain specific sacrifices may be unsuitable in the Kali Yuga, rather than all Vedic sacrifices.
It further argues that if Agnyādhāna were indeed prohibited, there would have been no need for the verse to mention gavalambha (cow sacrifice) separately, since the latter would already have been excluded. The explicit mention of gavalambha therefore suggests that the prohibition applies only to certain specified practices and not to the sacrificial system as a whole.
Another verse from the Dharmaśāstra is cited in support of this understanding. According to this view, so long as the Varṇāśrama system continues to exist, however imperfectly, and so long as the sound of the Vedas continues to be heard, rites such as Agnyādhāna are to be performed and the Saṃnyāsāśrama is to remain a valid stage of life. The restrictions applicable to the Kali Yuga are therefore understood to concern only certain forms of animal sacrifice, the use of meat in Śrāddha ceremonies, and the practice of niyoga.