The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c10.19

c10.19

The catastrophic conception of sacrifice we have encountered above is not characteristically Indian. It is equally known in other religions. For our purpose, however, it is more important that the agonistic and violent conception of sacrifice, though never forgotten, is not a fundamental or central theme in Indian religious thought (as opposed to folklore or popular religion). Even though it can still be recognized in the *Mahābhārata* with comparative ease, it is hardly the epic’s leading motive. Rather, the main theme has shifted to the dharma’s being fatally endangered by the sinful war between brothers. Typically, the destructive war is brought about by the sacrifice of the royal consecration. Here the original pattern is still recognizable, but the *Mahābhārata* is predominantly critical of agonistic sacrifice and its catastrophal consequences. It is predicted at the beginning that the sacrifice of the royal consecration will lead to the destruction of the whole warrior race.²⁴ Sacrifice in the epic is a fatal doom, not a just and ultimately promising enterprise. The epic raises the numinous ambivalence of sacrifice to an unbearable pitch. Its sacrifice is a sacrifice to end all sacrifices.