The concept of paśu bali being ‘barbaric’ was publicized by the Catholics as an aid to their rigorous conversion activities. It is quite ridiculous for people who eat animals all through their lives – to complain of paśu bali during sacrifices, as an act of cruelty against animals! In this world, wild animals like lion and tiger kill other animals and devour them. The objective of the śāstra is not to question this act. Even human beings, for selfish reasons, behave cruelly and kill animals to devour them. Such people lack humanity and do not accept the pramāṇa of the Veda. For such people, the Vedic injunction, ‘Do not hurt any being’, makes no sense. This injunction is applicable only to those who accept the Veda as pramāṇa. So, let’s examine this topic only to address the second category of people.
The same Veda which specifies the above injunction also instructs paśvālambha in a sacrifice called Agnīṣōmīya. So how is it that one can accept the first and reject the second instruction? Let’s think about killing an animal. What really happens by killing an animal? Nothing happens then and there. But we are still bothered by the sin that we believe gets accumulated due to the act. Can we see this sin? No! We understand that this act of cruelty generates sin by the pramāṇa of the śruti and the smr̥ti. In our country, a man is not allowed to kill another man. But the government can impose a death sentence on a criminal who has killed several men. In this case, should the executioner who carries out the orders of the government and executes the death sentence be considered as a murderer and killed too? It should be understood that the act of the executioner was not himsā but instead it was his dharma. The Veda, for an āstika are the commands of Paramātman (śrutismr̥tī mamaivājñē) and hence an act which looks like himsā but done as per the Vedic instruction without a selfish motive, does not generate any sin.
The same concept was explained to Arjuna by Lord Kr̥ṣṇa, when Arjuna refused to kill his kin during the battle of Kurukṣētra. The objections to this explanation could be: why should one kill an innocent animal for earning heavenly worlds? Take the example of a King who fights a battle and kills several men. Is he going to be considered as a sinner and punished by the śāstras? No! This is because yuddha is his dharma and though the King has fought a battle for his own sake, he has only followed his dharma. So, even if a yajamāna performs a sacrifice such as Agnīṣōmīya for his own benefit, he would not be considered a sinner, if such a sacrifice is an ordained karma for him. From the pramāṇa, yajnārthaṁ paśavassr̥ṣṭāḥ, it becomes clear that the paśu was created to be sacrificed during a sacrifice. To use a being for an act that fulfills the very purpose of its creation cannot be a sin, for the believer of the Veda. Thus, one cannot selectively accept Vedic authority and ignore the so called controversial parts of the karmakāṇḍa. The subtle tattva behind this concept of paśu bali as related to the microcosm should be learned from a competent Guru.
There is a lot of recent discussion about banning paśu bali during the Mahāpūjā of Goddess Durgā. The hypocrites who ignite this conversation are the very same people who support gōhatyā and prāṇihatyā for food, champion barbaric practices such as Halal, cheer the Islamist practice of Bakrid where millions of innocent animals are butchered on the streets across the world, and also render support to indiscriminate bhrūṇahatyā.
The celebrated Karpūra stava of Mahārājñī Kālikā talks of paśu bali:
salōmāsthi svairaṁ palalamapi mārjāramasitē
parañcauṣṭraṁ maiṣaṁ naramahiṣayōcchāgamapi vā |
baliṁ tē pūjāyāmapi vitaratāṁ martyavasatāṁ
satāṁ siddhiḥ sarvā pratipadamapūrvā prabhavati ||
A similar instruction is seen in several Tantras. For those sādhakas who have attained a higher degree of qualification, the bali is metaphorical. The Annadā kalpa states:
kāmakrōdhau chāgabāhau baliṁ datvā prapūjayēt |
Bhāskararāya Makhīndra corroborates the same in his magnum opus Saubhagyabhāskara while commenting on the name, Balipriyā:
balinō’vidyānirāsasamarthāḥ kāmādiśatrujētāraḥ priyā dayāpātraṁ yasyāḥ |
It is a common practice to offer bali during the śaratkālīna mahāpūjā that occurs during the sandhi of sparśāśṭamī and navamī (śaratkālē mahāpūjā etc. in Saptaśatī and bali nirdēśa in Rahasyatraya). During the mahāpūjā of Kālikā, balidāna is one of the four prescribed rituals:
hōmaḥ saptaśatīpāṭhō balirvāditravādanam |
catuṣṭayamidaṁ śastaṁ māsīṣē kālikārcanē |
prabhūtabalidānaṁ ca kāryaṁ bhūtyanusārataḥ ||
The opinion of the majority is that paśu bali is a necessity during naimittika pūjā and not nitya pūjā:
tasmānnaimittikārcāyām balirāvaśyakaḥ priyē |
viśēṣēṇa pradātavyō dēvīsantōṣahētavē |
baliṁ vinā naiva dēvī pūjāmaṅgīkarōti hi ||
The Mahākāla samhitā speaks of two kinds of Bali:
vidhistu dvividhaḥ prōktaḥ śrautaḥ āgamikastathā |
śrautaḥ śrutyuktamantrēṇa āgamastantrōktamantrakaiḥ |
śrautō’pi svasvagr̥hyōktavidhinā sampradīyatē ||
Three categories are obtained by splitting Vaidika into Vaidika and Smārta:
balistu trividhō jñēyaḥ tāntrikaḥ smārta ēva ca |
vaidikaścēti tatrādau tāntrikō’ṣṭavidhaḥ smrtaḥ ||
Of these, Vaidika bali involves the same procedure as adopted during yajnas:
śrautaḥ śrutiṣu sandhēyō yō’dhvarēṣu nirūpitaḥ |
In case of deities of wrathful countenance, paśu bali is prescribed by the śastras, similar to a Vedic yajña:
vaidikaṁ tu baliṁ dadyādōdanam svinnamāṣavat |
sarōcanamatikrūradaivatē vaṭakānvitam ||
For deities like Chaṇḍikā, Kālī etc., it is clear from śāstra pramāṇa, that paśu bali is approved and prescribed, for sādhakas belonging to the second and the fourth varṇa, and for special categories of people (nr̥pādayaḥ).
Do note that indiscriminate murder of animals is not permitted by our śāstras, like other Abrahamic religions, except in the context of a religious sacrifice. Manusmr̥ti deals with this topic in detail:
yāvanti paśulomāni tāvatkṛtvo ha māraṇam |
vṛthā paśughnaḥ prāpnoti pretya janmani janmani || (5:38)
‘Count the hairs of the animal you have killed and eaten and for that many lifetimes you will be killed by that animal’.
He further says:
varṣe varṣe.aśvamedhena yo yajeta śataṃ samāḥ |
māṃsāni ca na khādedyat tayoḥ puṇyaphalaṃ samam || (5:53)
‘He who avoids meat eating for his whole life receives the same meritorious fruit after death as he who adopts the aśvamedha yajña every year for one hundred years’.
Mahāmāhēśvara Abhinavagupta deals with paśu bali in his Tantrālōka.
Jayaratha raises the question concerning the position of the sheep that is to be slaughtered.
‘Now we have accepted that paśu yāga (animal sacrifice) on this occasion is divine, but still, to cut the throat of a paśu on that occasion is always disliked by the sheep. He will not like it since cutting his throat is not a joke’.
To this objection, Abhinavagupta puts forth this answer:
‘This is great blessing and great help that you cut his throat on this occasion. This is a great service to this paśu. No matter if he will not like it at the time of slaughtering, it will not be appreciated by that sheep’.
To clarify, Abhinavagupta gives the following example. When you are overwhelmed with some peculiar disease, the doctor prescribes a mixture and fasting; but fasting you don’t appreciate, mixture also you don’t appreciate because it is not sweet, it is sour. But this is a great service to that diseased being. So this is a kind of drug we are giving the sheep, and this drug is a terrible mixture for getting rid of the disease of rebirths – birth and death, birth and death, in continuity.’
Jayaratha then raises the following objection:
“If it is true that by cutting his throat he will be liberated, then what is the purpose, what is the sense, what is the meaning in initiation then? You just cut his throat and he will be liberated. Why undergo all these cycles of procedures of rituals, just cut his throat and he will be liberated’.
In answer to this objection, Abhinavagupta quotes from the śāstras:
‘In Mṛtyuñjaya Tantra (Netra Tantra), in the section of pāśaccheda it is said by Lord Shiva – when you cut the bindings of an individual to liberate him from repeated births and deaths, at that precious moment, āṇava, māyīya and kārma malas are also removed along with his body. So, he will not come into this wretched cycle of existence again, he will not be born again – because when both good and bad karma are exhausted, then there is no question of birth again. So this is not slaughtering the sheep, we are initiating the sheep, this is one way of dīkṣā.
And this is a kind of initiation for duffers who cannot understand. For instance, if I teach a sheep to breath in and out, in and out, and watch the center of this cycle, will he understand? So, this is the way to teach him. Gross slaughtering is when you simply cut the throat of a sheep, or any being – in this case āṇava, māyīya and kārma mala are still there, you commit a sin there.
But when you cut the throat and there are no malas left, that is initiation, that is upliftment, that is divine way of initiation. This is where you sentence him to higher worlds, higher elevated cycles of the universe.
‘When he is initially slaughtered and offered through havana, then he has again come back in birth and six times he is offered. That sheep, in the sixth cycle of his birth is called ṣadjanmā. And adepts can calculate and understand through meditation that this paśu who is grazing grass is ṣadjanmā paśu, and that is called vīrapaśu’.
Once again it is emphasized that the fate of this vīrapaśu is liberation. Now, here we are, concerned of even a sheep’s liberation; while Pope Benedict XVI said that when animals die, they just die – no heaven for them, sorry!
na tē dēvībalitvēna vidhātrā vihitāḥ priyē |
ālabhēta vr̥ṣaṁ śvētaṁ yañē gōmēdhanāmani ||
naramēdhē naraṁ cāpi gajakrāntē gajaṁ tathā |
aśvamēdhē tathaivāśvaṁ śaṅkhacūḍē ca hastinam ||
bravīti yatra vēdō’pi tatra kaiva vicāraṇā |
baliṁ vinā naiva dēvī pūjāmaṅgīkarōti hi ||
For Brāhmaṇas and Vaiśyas, the anukalpa during the worship of Chaṇḍikā during Balidāna are listed thus:
ikṣudaṇḍaṁ ca kūṣmāṇḍaṁ tathā vānyaphalādikam |
kṣīrapiṇḍaiḥ śālicūrṇaiḥ paśuṁ kr̥tvā carēdbalim ||
After extensively quoting the scriptures and the mahāns, what does my svānubhava say? Having personally witnessed the presence of deities during my offerings of naivedya, homa and balidāna, especially after rituals such as aṣṭāṣṭaka kratu, Mahāvārāhī saparyā and worship of Chaṇḍikā during śarannavarātrōtsava, there is really no room for doubt in accepting such śāstra pramāṇa.
So, finally, do I offer paśu bali or teach my students to offer it? No. Will I oppose and resist ill-intentioned bhraṣṭas who question sacred traditions while cheering indiscriminate gōhatyā, bhrūṇahatyā etc.? Yes! Especially so when they target the Sharatkālīna Mahāpūjā of Bhagavatī, who is more important than anything else in the universe.