Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c12.s8.6

c12.s8.6

But this ritual had also a darker side. The huge gains offered by them must have increased the greed of at least some of the priests. The large sacrifices required the immolation of a large number of animals of the herds and the felling of big trees possessed by the villagers. These meant a further taxation of the poor people by the nobles who were the real performers of the sacrifices. It is therefore impossible not to believe in some of the charges levelled against ritualism in the Buddhist texts. The Buddhist attitude is well presented in the Brāhmaṇa-dhammikasutta (Sutta-nipāta p. 50).