From: partha@mse.cse.ogi.edu (R. Parthasarathy)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil,soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Animal Sacrifice in Temples
Date: 4 Sep 92 18:46:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.42442
Organization: Oregon Graduate Institute, Material Science & Engineering

In article <92248.091313IO92395@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> IO92395@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (T.C.A.Venkatesan) writes:
>In article <1992Sep3.220304.6936@wuecl.wustl.edu>, sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara
>Pandian) says:
>>      As I pointed out in one of my earlier articles, aswamedha yaga
>> ( horse sacrifice ) is reported twice in Valmiki Ramayana, one by
>> Dasaradha and the other by Rama. ..................  Do you think
>> that horses were sacrificed for feeding people ?
>>
>
>      Please - There seems to be a misunderstanding with what I said
>first. I am not supporting the sacrifice of animals in temples. I was
>only objecting to terms such as 'killing innocent animals', 'inhuman'
>etc., as long as the meat is being eaten.
>
>      And, yes, it is indeed wrong to kill horses etc. if the meat is
>thrown away. See my first article!
>
>>        Meat-eating is not irrational. Not all are vegetarians.
>>  But, it is irrational to seek favours from `god' [ if there is one ]
>> by killing animals in a yajna. .............

	I am not trying to justify anything about killing innocent animals.
But have you guys considered hunting animals as a sport? It has been there
in almost all civilizations on this earth. All the great kings of the
yesteryears indulged in it. Isn't that as barbaric as sacrificing animals
to appease Gods?

	People have killed innocent human beings to appease Gods not until
very long ago. If you want read a book on Thuggees in India. This cult
persisted for almost 800 years until the British wiped it out. Millions
and millions of innocent travellers lost their lives to these `thugs' (hence
the word thug in the English language now). Surprisingly both Hindus and
Muslims indulged in that! They were following a Kali cult. It is very
difficult to swallow such heinous acts in our past. I have seen many fellow
Indians refusing to accept such realities. That was not from the Vedas
my dear friends. 

	What this tells is that every religion and cult has been disfigured
by its followers to the worst state over a period of time. Even the followers
of Buddhism have degenerated. If you want to point at one community for
the evils of our society, I can point several drawbacks in the rest of the
communities in India which have their own principles which may not be
acceptable to every one.

	Vedas may not have any relevance to the day to day life now. But
leave it to those who are interested in pursuing that. As long as they
do not affect others' freedom, let us not indulge in deciding what is
good for others. 

	I am not trying to defend the Vedas here. I accept the fact that
they are no exception in the world of religious texts. They have elements
which may make no sense. But so are the other religious scriptures. I can
never accept any religious text as the most perfect one. So why pick on
just one so that one can vent his hatred on a particular community (I
am referring to Mr. Vishnu's attitude).

	You do not achieve anything by breeding hatred. 

	Brahmins have become like a dead snake in Tamil Nadu now. The
Kazhagams have gone off track. They know that Brahmins don't have the
backbone to retaliate. So they have conviniently picked on them. They 
won't dare criticize the drawbacks in other religious communities, say
the Christians or Muslims. Because they know that they'd face fierce
retaliation from them. So do not get carried away by hate propaganda.

	Lot of guys here who are from brahmin communities no almost know
nothing about brahministic rituals and the meanings of Vedas. Many don't
know anything about India itself. When that is the case why inject
feelings of hate in an already confused state of mind?

	You sure have lots of interesting and useful contributions to
make. Why don't you focus on them for a change?

Partha sarathy
a
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil,alt.culture.tamil,soc.culture.indian