dya-brāhmanas: "The lord of creatures offered him self a sacrifice for the gods." "And again, in the Satapatha-brahmana: 'He who, knowing this, sacrifices with the Purusha-medha, or sacrifice of the primeval male, becomes everything.' "1 That it was the blood, which was the chief element in the covenanting-sacrifice, is evident from all the facts in the case. Thus, in the Aitareya-brāhmana, it is said: "The gods killed a man for their victim [of sacrifice]. But from him thus killed, the part which was fit for a sacrifice went out and entered a horse. Thence, the horse became an animal fit for being sacrificed. The gods then killed the horse, but the part of it fit for being sacrificed went out of it and entered an ox. The gods then killed the ox, but the part of it fit for being sacrificed went out of it and entered a sheep. Thence it entered a goat. The sacrificial part remained for the longest time in the goat; thence it [the goat] became pre-eminently fit for being sacrificed!" Indian history shows that this has been the progress of reform, from the days of human sacrifice downward. "It is remarkable that in Vedic times, even a cow was sometimes killed; and goats, as is well known, are still sacrificed to the goddess Kālī.”2 Kali, also called Doorga, is the blood-craving goddess. The 1 Monier Williams's Hinduism, p. 35 f. 2 Ibid., p. 37 f. blood of one human victim, it is said, "gives her a gleam of pleasure that endures a thousand years; and the sacrifice of three men together, would prolong her ecstasy for a thousand centuries." 1 Bishop Heber indicates the “sacrificial part" of the goat as he saw it offered at a temple of Kālī in Umeer. He was being shown by his guide through that city, on his first visit there, and the guide proposed a look at the temple. "He turned short, and led us some little distance up the citadel, then through a dark, low arch into a small court, where, to my surprise, the first object which met my eyes was a pool of blood on the pavement, by which a naked man stood with a bloody sword in his hand. . The guide tioned me against treading in the blood, and told me that a goat was sacrificed here every morning. In fact a second glance showed me the headless body of the poor animal lying before the steps of a small shrine, apparently of Kali. The Brahman was officiating and tinkling his bell. The guide told cau us, on our way back, that the tradition was, that, in ancient times, a man was sacrificed here every day; that the custom had been laid aside till Jye Singh [the builder of Umeer] had a frightful dream, in which the destroying power appeared to him, and asked why her image was suffered to be dry [It is blood, not flesh, 1 Dubois's Des. of Man, and Cust. in India, Part III., chap. vii. 1 INTER-COMMUNION IN INDIA. 159 that moistens]. The Rajah, afraid to disobey, and reluctant to fulfil the requisition to its ancient extent of horror, took counsel and substituted a goat [in which as well as in man there is blood-which is life-which is the chief thing in a sacrifice Godward] for the. human victim; with which the 'Dark goddess of the azure flood, Whose robes are wet with infant tears, Of man delights three thousand years,' was graciously pleased to be contented."1 "I had always heard, and fully believed till I came to India," says Bishop Heber, " that it was a grievous crime, in the opinion of the Brahmans, to eat the flesh or shed the blood of any living creature whatever. I have now myself seen Brahmans of the highest caste cut off the heads of goats, as a sacrifice to Doorga; and I know from the testimony of Brahmans, as well as from other sources, that not only hecatombs of animals are often offered in this manner, as a most meritorious act (a Rajah, about twenty-five years back [say about A. D. 1800], offered sixty thousand in one fortnight); but that any persons, Brahmans not excepted, eat readily [in inter-communion] of the flesh which has been offered up to one of their divinities." 2 Clearly, the idea of inter-communion with the gods, 2 Ibid., II., 285. 1 Heber's Travels in India, II., 13 f. on the basis of the inter-flow of blood, exists in many Brahmanic practices of to-day. It still finds its expression in the occasional "Sacrifice of the Yajna, at which a ram is immolated." It is claimed by the Brahmans that "this sacrifice is the most exalted and the most meritorious of all that human beings can devise. It is the most grateful to the gods. It calls down all sorts of temporal blessings, and blots out all the sins that can have been accumulated for four generations." The ram chosen for this sacrifice must be "entirely white, and without blemish: of about three years old." Only Brahmans who are free from physical infirmities and from ceremonial defects can have a part in its offering, "at which no man of any other caste can be present." Because of the Brahmanic horror of the shedding of blood, the victim is smothered, or "strangled"; after which it is cut in pieces, and burned as an oblation. "A part, however, is preserved for him who presides at the sacrifice, and part for him who is at the expense of it. These share their portions with the Brahmans who are present; amongst whom a scuffle ensues, each striving for a small bit of the flesh. Such morsels as they can catch they tear with their hands, and devour as a sacred viand [the meat of inter-communion with the gods]. This practice is the more remarkable, as being the only occasion in their [the Brahmans'] lives when they OCCULT SACRIFICES OF THE HINDOOS. 161 66 can venture to touch animal food." 'This most renowned sacrifice is one of the six privileges of the Brahmans "; and it would seem that its offering may now be directed to any one of the divinities, at the preference of the offerer. Formerly there was also the "Great Sacrifice of the Yajna," which is no longer in use. "At this sacrifice," in its day, "every species of victim was immolated; and it is beyond doubt that human beings even were offered up; but the horse and the elephant were the most common." So, there has never been an entire absence from the Brahmanic practices of an inter-communion with the gods through an inter-union by blood. Even more remarkable than this canonical sacrifice of the Yajna, with its accompanying inter-communion, are some of the occult sacrifices to the gods of the Hindoo Pantheon, in which all the ordinary barriers of caste are disregarded, in the un-canonical but greatly prized services of inter-communion with the gods on the basis of an inter-flow of blood. The offerings of blood-flowing sacrifices, including even the cow, are made before the image of Vishnoo; or, more probably, of Krishna as one of the forms of Vishnoo. The spirituous liquors of the country are also presented as drinkofferings. Then follows the inter-communion. "Hel who administers [at the offering to the god] tastes 1 Dubois's Des. of Man. and Cust. of India, Part II., chap. xxxi. |