History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c42.52

v3.c42.52

This rite is most elaborately described in Āśv. gṛ. IV. 9, Baud. gṛ. II. 7, Hira gṛ. II. 8-9, Bhār. gṛ. II. 8-10, Pār. gṛ. III. 8. It appears that even in the times of the gṛhya sūtras there were many who did not like the rite of ox-flesh. The Baud. gṛ. (II. 7. 26-27) says¹⁹⁶⁶ that if a person cannot secure an ox he may sacrifice with a goat or ram or he may cook a mess of cooked food for Īśāna and with that he does everything that is to be done by means of an ox. The commentator Devapāla on Kāṭhaka¹⁹⁶⁷ gṛ. 52. 1 says that only a goat is offered and the bull is let off as the people are opposed to the idea of the sacrifice of an ox.