Manava Dharmashastra 5.23

5.23

ṣaḍviṃśatsaṃvatsaraṃ nāma satraṃ tatra mṛgapakṣīvadha āmnātaḥ so'nenānūdyate | i ṃ tatra brāhmaṇaṃ "saṃsthite'hani gṛhapatimṛgayāṃ yāti sa.tatra yānyānmṛgāndṛnti teṣāṃ tarasāḥ puroḍāśā bhavanti" | arthavādatvādvabhūvuriti bhūtapratyaye na vivakṣā | tenādyatve'pi bhavanti | evaṃ purāṇeṣvapi | na kevalaṃ kaścidadyatve satrāṇāṃ vyavahāra iti darśanābhiprāyametat purāṇeṣviti | na punaḥ'adyatve yadi kecitsarvāṇyeva hareyusteṣāmeṣa vidhirna bhavatīti' mantavyam | athavā yaḥ svayaṃ śāstrārthaṃ veditumasamarthaḥ kevalaṃ paraprasiddhyā "mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ" iti nyāyena pravartate tatra tvetaducyate purāṇeṣviti | nāyamidaṃ prathamako dharmaḥ kiṃtarhi anādiḥ | purāṇā ṛṣayaḥ | brāhmaṇāḥ kecana tapaḥsiddhāḥ, jātyantaraṃ vā | yathā mahābhāratādau varṇitam | na cātra nirbandhaḥ kartavyaḥ "ṛṣīṇāṃ jātyantaratve gandharvādivatkathaṃ yāgeṣvadhikāra" iti | yato'yamarthavādo yenakenacidālambanena pratīyate | brahmakṣatrasavāḥ brahmakṣatriyayajñāḥ |

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The killing of beasts and birds has been prescribed in connection with the sacrifice named ‘Ṣaḍviṃśat-saṃvatsara’ (Twenty-six Years). This is what is referred to in the present verse. The Brāhmaṇa-passage bearing upon the subject is as follows:—‘At the end of the day the master of the house goes out hunting, and out of the flesh of the animals that he kills sacrificial cakes are made’.

In as much as the present verse is purely commendatory, no significance is meant to be attached to the past tense in the term ‘babhūva’, ‘were made’; hence the same thing is done now-a-days also.

The same holds good regarding the term ‘purāṇeṣu’, ‘in ancient times’. This also means that people should not consider that the said sacrificial practice has come into force in recent times only.—Or, the term may be taken to mean that ‘it should not be understood that there is nothing to sanction the practice of killing animals at sacrifices’.—Or, the term may be regarded as added for the benefit of those persons who are incapable of comprehending the meaning of the scriptures themselves, and who regulate their conduct entirely in accordance with the practices of other people, on the principle that ‘the right path is that whereby great men have gone’. The meaning is that ‘this practice is not of recent origin, it is without beginning’.

The ‘ancient sages’ are certain Brāhmaṇas, well-known for their austerities. Or, it may stand for a distinct species of beings; as described in the Mahābhārata and other works. In this connection it is not necessary to press the objection that—“If these sages belong to a distinct species of beings, they are like Gandhar vas and others, and as such, not entitled to the performance of sacrifices.”;—since the passage is a purely commendatory one, and as such, may be understood in any way one chooses.

‘Brahmakṣatriyasava’,—sacrifices performed by Brāhmaṇas and Kṣatriyas.—(23)