The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c27.s5.7

v1.c27.s5.7

The Brāhmaṇas⁵ set forth a list of five victims among animals, man, the horse, oxen, sheep, and goats: in practice the last three are the common victims, and the goat is the most usual of all: wild animals, fish, birds, the pig, and the dog are excluded; the last two were not eaten, the others rarely, but it is possible that in their case practical difficulties may explain their exclusion from use. At the horse sacrifice, it is true, enormous lists of offerings of all sorts of animals are enumerated: the rule is, however, admitted that the wild animals were to be set free, and it is absurd to suppose that the lists were ever seriously meant to be followed. On the other hand, the offering of the horse is contrary to the practice, for the eating of horse-flesh, though never in all likelihood unknown in India,⁶ and though practised by many peoples in ancient, medieval, and modern times, seems rare in India. It may be considered⁷ as serving either to make swift the god, who thus appropriates the swiftness of the animal offered, and through the god to strengthen the man, or as is less likely it may be held to be merely dictated by the desire directly to secure the offerer the strength of the steed, or again it may be due merely to the feeling that the highest beast is in place at a great offering: to this question we shall return again. In the case of the offering of an ass to Nirṛti the aim to secure the replacement of virility by the offerer is obvious, and reduces the offering to its real character, a magic rite dignified by the introduction of the goddess and the form of sacrifice. The offering of a fish-otter to Apāṁ Napāt⁸ is possibly to be attributed to the same idea: the otter suggests and creates the desired water, but it may also fall under the general rule of assimilation of the victim to the nature of the deity.