[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985) › c8.s2.7 # The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c8.s2.7 The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c8.s2.7 - **Language:** English ### [c8.s2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s2.7) Even the sacrificial meal, though clearly suggested by the standard phrase in the ritual rules, "they eat the iḍā," has been reduced to an almost unrecognizable minimum. The small slices forming the tangible Iḍā are not even eaten in community. Insofar as there is a communal meal of the sacrificial food, it is removed from the place of sacrifice and can take place only when the ritual is over. We can now understand why. The meal was intimately connected with intense rivalry and violence. The central drive behind the development of the śrauta ritual as we know it was, however, to exclude all violence and conflict. - [Previous: c8.s2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s2.6) - [Next: c8.s2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s2.8) - [Up: c8.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.heesterman-1985.c8.s2.7) · Pramāṇa