Animal Sacrifices (was Re: [Advaita-l] Web-sites related to advaita)

[Navin Rajaram]

Hari Om,

S Jayanarayanan wrote:

>"Animal Sacrifice in the Age of Kali"
>
>"An argument runs thus: In the eons gone by mankind possessed high
>ideals and noble character. Men could sacrifice animals for the
>well-being of the world because they had great affection in their
>hearts and were selfless. They offered even cows and horses in
>sacrifice and had meat for sraddha...In our own Kali age we do not have
>such men who are desireless in their actions, who can subdue their
>minds and give up all works to become ascetics and who will remain
>chaste at heart even in the company of women. So it is contended that
>the following are to be eschewed in the Kali age: horse and cow
>sacrifices, meat in the sraddha ceremony, sannyasa, begetting a son by
>the husband's brother."
>
Kartik,thank you for the kamakoti link. Some of my readings and 
discussions on this topic of vegetarianism tell me that since Brahmanas 
were entrusted with imparting and seeking spiritual knowledge, their 
food intake needed to desist from consuming foods of the 
Tamasik/Rajasvik nature. Not just meat, but vegetarian items of this 
nature were avoided in an effort to maintain balance.

On the other hand, kshatriyas who needed to fight were not prohibited 
from consuming meat - simply because Raja-guna was a positive for a 
warrior . I am not sure as to whether these foods actually helped a 
warrior but from the perspective of developing Sattva-guna being a 
prerequisite for a spiritual seeker, meat and other such foods are to be 
avoided.

Hari Om,
Navin