AGAINST SACRIFICE?

TEXT 36
ebhir indropasaàsåñöaiù
päkhaëòair häribhir janam
hriyamäëaà vicakñvainaà
yas te yajïa-dhrug açva-muö
SYNONYMS
ebhiù—by these; indra-upasaàsåñöaiù—created by the King of heaven, Indra;
päkhaëòaiù—sinful activities; häribhiù—very attractive to the heart;
janam—the people in general; hriyamäëam—being carried away;
vicakñva—just see; enam—these; yaù—one who; te—your;
yajïa-dhruk—creating a disturbance in the performance of the sacrifice;
açva-muö—who stole the horse.
TRANSLATION
Just see how Indra, the King of heaven, was creating a disturbance in the
midst of the sacrifice by stealing the sacrificial horse. These attractive sinful
activities he has introduced will be carried out by the people in general.
PURPORT
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As stated in Bhagavad-gétä (3.21):
yad yad äcarati çreñöhas
tad tad evetaro janaù
sa yat pramäëaà kurute
lokas tad anuvartate
"Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his
footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world
pursues."
For his own sense gratification, King Indra thought to defeat Mahäräja
Påthu in the performance of one hundred horse sacrifices. Consequently he
stole the horse and hid himself amid so many irreligious personalities, taking
on the false guise of a sannyäsé. Such activities are attractive to the people in
general; therefore they are dangerous. Lord Brahmä thought that instead of
allowing Indra to further introduce such irreligious systems, it would be better
to stop the sacrifice. A similar stance was taken by Lord Buddha when people
were overly engrossed in the animal sacrifices recommended by Vedic
instructions. Lord Buddha had to introduce the religion of nonviolence by
contradicting the Vedic sacrificial instructions. Actually, in the sacrifices the
slaughtered animals were given a new life, but people without such powers
were taking advantage of such Vedic rituals and unnecessarily killing poor
animals. Therefore Lord Buddha had to deny the authority of the Vedas for
the time being. One should not perform sacrifices that will induce reversed
orders. It is better to stop such sacrifices.
As we have repeatedly explained, due to a lack of qualified brahminical
priests in Kali-yuga, it is not possible to perform the ritualistic ceremonies
recommended in the Vedas. Consequently the çästras instruct us to perform
the saìkértana-yajïa. By the saìkértana sacrifice, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, in His form of Lord Caitanya, will be satisfied and worshiped. The
entire purpose of performing sacrifices is to worship the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Viñëu. Lord Viñëu, or Lord Kåñëa, is present in His form of Lord
copyright ©1998 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, all rights reserved – www.krishna.com
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Caitanya; therefore people who are intelligent should try to satisfy Him by
performing saìkértana-yajïa. This is the easiest way to satisfy Lord Viñëu in
this age. people should take advantage of the injunctions in different çästras
concerning sacrifices in this age and not create unnecessary disturbances
during the sinful age of Kali. In Kali-yuga men all over the world are very
expert in opening slaughterhouses for killing animals, which they eat. If the
old ritualistic ceremonies were observed, people would be encouraged to kill
more and more animals. In Calcutta there are many butcher shops which keep
a deity of the goddess Kälé, and animal-eaters think it proper to purchase
animal flesh from such shops in hope that they are eating the remnants of food
offered to goddess Kälé. They do not know that goddess Kälé never accepts
nonvegetarian food because she is the chaste wife of Lord Çiva. Lord Çiva is
also a great Vaiñëava and never eats nonvegetarian food, and the goddess Kälé
accepts the remnants of food left by Lord Çiva. Therefore there is no
possibility of her eating flesh or fish. Such offerings are accepted by the
associates of goddess Kälé known as bhütas, piçäcas and Räkñasas, and those
who take the prasäda of goddess Kälé in the shape of flesh or fish are not
actually taking the prasäda left by goddess Kälé, but the food left by the bhütas
and piçäcas.