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Animal Sacrifice to End in Nepal???

ronki23

ronki23

Well-Known Member
This is similar to my thread; why did the Nepalis (and indeed Indian pilgrims) do it in the first place and more importantly, why/how did the government now make the decision to end it??
 
DeviChaaya

DeviChaaya

Jai Ambe Gauri
Premium Member
ronki23 said:
This is similar to my thread; why did the Nepalis (and indeed Indian pilgrims) do it in the first place and more importantly, why/how did the government now make the decision to end it??
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If we look back to the origins of sacrifice, it was done to please the devas and to provide food. Many religions have done and still continue to do this but not on the mass scale it was done in Nepal. Indeed, halal and kosher meats can be considered sacrificial as well as the animal must be slaughtered following religious rituals that, if I'm correct (I may not be), include dedicating it to their deity.

A sacrifice every now and then, I do not see much problem with if the animal is being sacrificed humanely. It can be looked upon as releasing the animal from the bonds of this life into the next in such a way as to provide sustenance to people who rely upon it. Mass slaughter, on the other hand, where the animals are killed by unskilled men and women and suffer much agony and torment as their brethren die around them is awful and should, of course, be stopped.
 
Kirran

Kirran

ॐ
Premium Member
I think it went like this:

1) People dedicate their food to the gods/give it to the gods before eating it, like we do with prasad to this day.

2) They weren't all vegetarian, and so when they kill an animal prior to preparing it they dedicated it to the gods.

3) The idea came that seeing as the gods wanted animals killed for them, they'd be honoured by having more killed for them.

4) Escalation to what we see today.
 
Lyndon

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
I was told by a Hindu friend that the greatest accomplishment of the Buddha to Hindus, was his influence in ending animal sacrifice. Is that true?? Do most Hindu's not sacrifice animals??
 
DeviChaaya

DeviChaaya

Jai Ambe Gauri
Premium Member
Lyndon said:
I was told by a Hindu friend that the greatest accomplishment of the Buddha to Hindus, was his influence in ending animal sacrifice. Is that true?? Do most Hindu's not sacrifice animals??
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Eh. It's highly debatable that Buddhist contributed to the cessation of sacrifice; after all Nepal is a country with a considerable Buddhist population and Buddhism does not even restrict the nuns and monks from eating meat as they are required to beg and cannot say no to the alms they receive.
 
ronki23

ronki23

Well-Known Member
Lyndon said:
I was told by a Hindu friend that the greatest accomplishment of the Buddha to Hindus, was his influence in ending animal sacrifice. Is that true?? Do most Hindu's not sacrifice animals??
Click to expand...

I too am confused regarding this. If you see demographics, Buddhism is the largest religion in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos and is prominent in China,Japan and Korea; none of these countries are particularly vegetarian. I think Buddhism is a philosophy and a way of life more than a religion because in India Buddhism is considered a part of Hinduism and in China and Japan it's mixed with their own indigenous beliefs.

It seems that the Aryan settlers brought the notion of animal sacrifice although I don't fully agree with this because South India has it and they're Dravidians.

It's difficult to find a conclusion because if Buddha promoted vegetarianism and Aryans promoted meat sacrifices, what do the Vedas say and keeping on-topic, why did the Nepalis reject the Vedas on ahimsa??

By the way, to make it even more confusing, proponents say Buddha was an Aryan from Eurasia
 
ratikala

ratikala

Istha gosthi
namaskaram Lyndon ji

Lyndon said:
I was told by a Hindu friend that the greatest accomplishment of the Buddha to Hindus, was his influence in ending animal sacrifice. Is that true?? Do most Hindu's not sacrifice animals??
Click to expand...

Jai Jai lord Buddha Ki Jai , ....Vaisnava do not make animal sacrifice , ...Vaisnava one the whole are Pure vegetarian all temple offerings are pure vegeterian , it is the Vaisnava who accepts lord Buddha as an avatara of Visnu and who atribute this great acccomplishment to Lord Buddha , ...

I will not give figures for denominations as it upsets some people (why I do not know ? ..apart from folish competitiveness) but it is safe to say thay Vaisnava form large percentage of Hindus , and the stricter the adherence the more faithfull each Vaisnava is to the principle of Ahimsa .
 
DeviChaaya

DeviChaaya

Jai Ambe Gauri
Premium Member
ratikala said:
I will not give figures for denominations as it upsets some people (why I do not know ? ..apart from folish competitiveness) but it is safe to say thay Vaisnava form large percentage of Hindus , and the stricter the adherence the more faithfull each Vaisnava is to the principle of Ahimsa .
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Namaste, Ratikala

I am not sure why the numbers upset people; a majority identify - on some level - as Vaishnav but I think that excludes folk Hinduism which tends to be much more polytheistic and devoted to a male Deva with many female forms of Devi about, particularly Her ferocious forms. A smaller minority are Shaivas and an even smaller minority are Shaktas although, again, excluding folk Hinduism which tends to worship many, many forms of Devi.

And now, back to the topic of animal sacrifice! I do not think it will ever be completely obliterated; animal sacrifice holds a strong place in many, many religions, not just Hinduism. Vaisnavas and Shaivas have moved mostly away from this form of practice (although I believe if we looked hard enough we would find forms of both who accept such sacrifices) while Shaktas still accept it on the whole. People may argue this is because Shaktism is a less evolved form but it could also be argued that, a sacrifice done properly, is good for the people and the animals. For instance, the animal is released into the next - hopefully human - life, the sacrificer (usually wealthy) gains punya for feeding the needy and the priests officiating follow their karma. It is not, necessarily a bad thing...

However, it is a horrible thing when millions of animals are slaughtered with no skill, thereby torturing them needlessly, and their meat goes to waste. Are all of these animals going to be eaten? Really? I doubt it. If each animal's carcass were going to be used, for food, for leather, etc than it is not mindless killing. But if it is just killing to appease Mata ji... I do not think She would approve of that. Mindless slaughter is never any good for anyone.

And of course, let us remember that animal sacrifice tends to occur in regions where other protein sources are scarce, so again there is an evolutionary reason behind it... but food is no longer scarce unless you make very little and cannot afford to buy it. The scarcity now is artificial, we produce enough food in this world to feed everyone adequately and yet we still have starving poor.
 
P

Paranoid Android

Active Member
DeviChaaya said:
Namaste, Ratikala

I am not sure why the numbers upset people; a majority identify - on some level - as Vaishnav but I think that excludes folk Hinduism which tends to be much more polytheistic and devoted to a male Deva with many female forms of Devi about, particularly Her ferocious forms. A smaller minority are Shaivas and an even smaller minority are Shaktas although, again, excluding folk Hinduism which tends to worship many, many forms of Devi.

And now, back to the topic of animal sacrifice! I do not think it will ever be completely obliterated; animal sacrifice holds a strong place in many, many religions, not just Hinduism. Vaisnavas and Shaivas have moved mostly away from this form of practice (although I believe if we looked hard enough we would find forms of both who accept such sacrifices) while Shaktas still accept it on the whole. People may argue this is because Shaktism is a less evolved form but it could also be argued that, a sacrifice done properly, is good for the people and the animals. For instance, the animal is released into the next - hopefully human - life, the sacrificer (usually wealthy) gains punya for feeding the needy and the priests officiating follow their karma. It is not, necessarily a bad thing...

However, it is a horrible thing when millions of animals are slaughtered with no skill, thereby torturing them needlessly, and their meat goes to waste. Are all of these animals going to be eaten? Really? I doubt it. If each animal's carcass were going to be used, for food, for leather, etc than it is not mindless killing. But if it is just killing to appease Mata ji... I do not think She would approve of that. Mindless slaughter is never any good for anyone.

And of course, let us remember that animal sacrifice tends to occur in regions where other protein sources are scarce, so again there is an evolutionary reason behind it... but food is no longer scarce unless you make very little and cannot afford to buy it. The scarcity now is artificial, we produce enough food in this world to feed everyone adequately and yet we still have starving poor.
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My opinion ( does it offend anyone ? Please tell me, because I don't want to offend anyone) is that is good to vegetarian. In Dementheology Full Moon meetings, they can't eat meat, it has to be vegetarian. I hope I didn't offend anyone.
 
DeviChaaya

DeviChaaya

Jai Ambe Gauri
Premium Member
Paranoid Android said:
My opinion ( does it offend anyone ? Please tell me, because I don't want to offend anyone) is that is good to vegetarian. In Dementheology Full Moon meetings, they can't eat meat, it has to be vegetarian. I hope I didn't offend anyone.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why that would offend anyone? It is almost universally agreed within the Hindu spheres that vegetarianism is the best way to go as it does not harm other living, sentient beings.
 
ratikala

ratikala

Istha gosthi
namaskaram Devi Chaaya ji

DeviChaaya said:
Namaste, Ratikala

I am not sure why the numbers upset people; a majority identify - on some level - as Vaishnav but I think that excludes folk Hinduism which tends to be much more polytheistic and devoted to a male Deva with many female forms of Devi about, particularly Her ferocious forms. A smaller minority are Shaivas and an even smaller minority are Shaktas although, again, excluding folk Hinduism which tends to worship many, many forms of Devi.
Click to expand...

to put it simply I didnt want to derail the thread talking about majoritys or minorities or how any cencus was taken , ....which often ends up happening, ...

And now, back to the topic of animal sacrifice! I do not think it will ever be completely obliterated; animal sacrifice holds a strong place in many, many religions, not just Hinduism. Vaisnavas and Shaivas have moved mostly away from this form of practice (although I believe if we looked hard enough we would find forms of both who accept such sacrifices) while Shaktas still accept it on the whole. People may argue this is because Shaktism is a less evolved form but it could also be argued that, a sacrifice done properly, is good for the people and the animals. For instance, the animal is released into the next - hopefully human - life, the sacrificer (usually wealthy) gains punya for feeding the needy and the priests officiating follow their karma. It is not, necessarily a bad thing...
Click to expand...

as regards to animal sacrifice as Vaishnava we are taught that in previous yugas it was possible to perform animal sacrifice to liberate the animal , but in this Yuga our practices are too impure therefore animal sacrifice should not be performed .

personaly I feel that if the aim was to feed the poor so much more rice dal and vegetable could be bought for the cost of an animal that more punya could be gained by making non meat sacrifices , .....

unfortunatly in this instance this one particular temple defends its actions by saying that the actual sacrifice does not happen in the temple but in a large area outside , ...and that the dead bodies are then sold to the higest bidder , they are not given to the poor .

However, it is a horrible thing when millions of animals are slaughtered with no skill, thereby torturing them needlessly, and their meat goes to waste. Are all of these animals going to be eaten? Really? I doubt it. If each animal's carcass were going to be used, for food, for leather, etc than it is not mindless killing. But if it is just killing to appease Mata ji... I do not think She would approve of that. Mindless slaughter is never any good for anyone.
Click to expand...

Gadhimai Temple Trust sell the dead animals on to various comercial concerns in India and Nepal , there is a large profit to be made here the temple unashamedly admits this , ...I have seen video interveiws with the preists from the temple , ...yet they do not say what happens to the money , ...apparently they also charge visitors to watch the sacrifices , ...their feeble excuse for continuing this festival is that it greatly benifits the local economy , ....
however what is to stop them recomending that pilgrims offer non animal sacrifices , ..the locals can still sell the pilgrims vegetarian alternatives .

And of course, let us remember that animal sacrifice tends to occur in regions where other protein sources are scarce, so again there is an evolutionary reason behind it... but food is no longer scarce unless you make very little and cannot afford to buy it. The scarcity now is artificial, we produce enough food in this world to feed everyone adequately and yet we still have starving poor.
Click to expand...

it has allready been suggested that non animal sacrifices could be made but as yet this has not been acted upon prehaps more presure could be placed upon the temple and the government not to stop the festival but to forbid animal sacrifice , ..... promoting instead offerings of grains and clothing , these could then easily be distributed to the poor .
 
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