[Aditya Koirala]

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During recent times, when the world has become rather sensitive about the life of beings, where rallies are set out to stop slaughtering of animals for various purposes on the planet, we are here to talk about the topic of the sacrifice of animals offered to please the deities in Hinduism. When we learn about the cultures of different regions, we come across a common practice of animal sacrifice. Every sect has a particular belief and a region for certain acts.

Sacrifice, referred as Yajna in Hinduism, is a popular ritual that has prevailed in the Vedic traditions for a very long time. The history of sacrificing ritual has been in the Vedic texts since ancient times and has been mentioned about its part in the Mahabharata. In Hinduism, sacrifices need not be living only. Sacrifices can be of fruits, material or precious objects and even intangible sacrifices which are offered to God during various rituals.

The different kinds of sacrifices are:
Homa

This specific ritual is performed to seek blessings from certain deities. The individual performing it offers different things like ghee, grains or herbs into the sacred fire .

Animal Sacrifice

Though animals are considered to be sacred and many of which are worshipped in Hinduism this ancient practice of animal sacrifice still prevails. In the states of Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal this practice has been bluntly performed. This sacrificial practice involves slaying of goats, chickens, hens and fishes.

In Hinduism, there exists some fierce Gods and Goddesses like Durga, Kali, Narasimha, Bhairava. These deities are associated with anger and wrath. The sacrifices are therefore performed to contain their anger and seek their blessings.

Tapas

This is a sacrificial act of seeking grace and blessings from the deities through self-sacrifices. These sacrifices include enduring pain, fasting and meditation.

 

Seva

These sacrifices are humanitarian acts of selfless service to the needful. These act of service provide a sense of higher accomplishment and are seen as a way to achieve divine present in all beings.

Sacrifice of ego

In Hinduism, ego of an individual is considered as a barrier between a normal life and moksha(enlightenment). To achieve the divine form of life, one must sacrifice the materialistic things of the world and only then can he walk on the path of moksha. Any ritual or a spiritual practice starts by keeping aside our insecurities, greed, ego and everything that connects us to our daily regular world. Sacrifice itself is a huge term that cannot be fairly evaluated in terms of the finite limitations of expression.

The Aghoris, Sadhus, Muni and Rishis are not just spiritually engaged people. They are on their way or are individuals who actually have achieved a higher form of life. They sacrifice their strings to the world and set out on a way not seen and not imagined by the normal beings.

 

In the normal terms of the world, sacrifice do not actually occur because what a person comes across in life remains with him till the end, maybe not in the physical form but in memory and something that still remains, even after the sacrifice, cannot be fairly considered.

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