The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c14.135

c14.135

The conclusion of this Jâtaka as well as similar narratives—for instance, the story of the prince who terminates a sacrificial ceremony in his kingdom by a tournament and further, the prohibition of the slaughter of animals in the Ayakûṭa Jâtaka (III. 146)—point to this, that with the spread of Buddhistic doctrines the cult of sacrifice gradually declined. For the older age, however, quite apart from the fact that the origin of such stories is to be traced rather to the tendency of Buddhistic doctrines against the killing of living animals than to actual facts, we have to suppose an adherence to the practice of sacrifice for this reason, that we see Brâhmaṇas always appearing among the king's retinue.