SN 3.9PTS (1st ed) SN 1.751 min read

Sacrifice

Yaññasutta

A great sacrifice involving the slaughter of many animals was being prepared for King Pasenadi. The Buddha condemns such sacrifices and says a fruitful sacrifice involves a blameless and harmless offering.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 3.9Linked Discourses 3.9
0.21. Paṭhamavagga1. Shackles

0.3YaññasuttaSacrifice

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Tena kho pana samayena rañño pasenadissa kosalassa mahāyañño paccupaṭṭhito hoti, pañca ca usabhasatāni pañca ca vacchatarasatāni pañca ca vacchatarisatāni pañca ca ajasatāni pañca ca urabbhasatāni thūṇūpanītāni honti yaññatthāya.Now at that time a grand sacrifice had been set up for King Pasenadi of Kosala. Bulls, bullocks, heifers, goats and rams—five hundred of each—had been led to the pillar for the sacrifice.¹1.3Yepissa te honti dāsāti vā pessāti vā kammakarāti vā, tepi daṇḍatajjitā bhayatajjitā assumukhā rudamānā parikammāni karonti.His bondservants, servants, and workers did their jobs under threat of punishment and danger, weeping with tearful faces.

2.1Atha kho sambahulā bhikkhū pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pavisiṁsu.Then several mendicants robed up in the morning and, taking their bowls and robes, entered Sāvatthī for alms.2.2Sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkantā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinnā kho te bhikkhū bhagavantaṁ etadavocuṁ:Then, after the meal, when they returned from almsround, they went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what was happening.2.3“idha, bhante, rañño pasenadissa kosalassa mahāyañño paccupaṭṭhito hoti, pañca ca usabhasatāni pañca ca vacchatarasatāni pañca ca vacchatarisatāni pañca ca ajasatāni pañca ca urabbhasatāni thūṇūpanītāni honti yaññatthāya.2.4Yepissa te honti dāsāti vā pessāti vā kammakarāti vā, tepi daṇḍatajjitā bhayatajjitā assumukhā rudamānā parikammāni karontī”ti.

3.1Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imā gāthāyo abhāsi:Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha recited these verses:²

4.1“Assamedhaṁ purisamedhaṁ,“Horse sacrifice, human sacrifice,³4.2sammāpāsaṁ vājapeyyaṁ;the ‘casting of the yoke-pin’, <j>the ‘royal soma drinking’,⁴4.3Niraggaḷaṁ mahārambhā,and the ‘unimpeded’—⁵4.4na te honti mahapphalā.these grand, violent sacrifices yield no great fruit.
5.1Ajeḷakā ca gāvo ca,The great sages of right comportment5.2vividhā yattha haññare;don’t attend sacrifices5.3Na taṁ sammaggatā yaññaṁ,where goats, sheep, and cattle5.4upayanti mahesino.and various creatures are killed.
6.1Ye ca yaññā nirārambhā,But the great sages of right comportment6.2yajanti anukulaṁ sadā;do attend those sacrifices6.3Ajeḷakā ca gāvo ca,that are non-violent and propitious,⁶6.4vividhā nettha haññare;where goats, sheep, and cattle,6.5Etaṁ sammaggatā yaññaṁ,and various creatures are not killed.6.6upayanti mahesino.
7.1Etaṁ yajetha medhāvī,An intelligent person should sacrifice like this,7.2eso yañño mahapphalo;for this sacrifice is very fruitful.7.3Etañhi yajamānassa,For a sponsor of sacrifices like this,7.4seyyo hoti na pāpiyo;things get better, not worse.7.5Yañño ca vipulo hoti,Such a sacrifice is truly abundant,7.6pasīdanti ca devatā”ti.and even the deities are pleased.”

Translator’s notes

It would be strange for a devoted Buddhist to undertake such a sacrifice. Perhaps this was before Pasenadi converted. The commentary, however, says that it was in response to a terrifying nightmare, on the advice of his brahmin priest. While it is true that Buddhism has mostly ended cruel sacrifices, I have heard of such things in Buddhist communities even in modern times.
↩ sn3.9:1.2
The rituals listed are grand sacrifices requiring the slaughter of many beasts, intended to establish or grow the power of the king. Not all are readily identifiable in Vedic texts.
↩ sn3.9:3.1
The horse sacrifice (assamedha, Sanskrit aśvamedha) was expensive, dangerous, and rarely performed. A horse was set free for a year, followed by the king and his army who would conquer any lands on which it strayed. Then it was killed in an obscene rite. It appears in the late stages of the Rig Veda (1.162, 1.163, and perhaps 10.86) and was a major feature of the sacrificial systems (eg. Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 13) and cosmic meditations (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.1).
Even before the Buddha, human sacrifice was regarded by the Vedists as a long-abandoned practice, substituted by a horse, then an ox, a sheep, and finally a goat, and finally as rice and barley (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 1.2.3.6; compare Genesis 22). It persisted, however, in darker corners of Indian folk religion.
↩ sn3.9:4.1
The “casting of the yoke-pin” (sammāpāsa) is obscure. I think it originated as the pulling out of a yoke-pin (śamyā) of the beasts of the journey, which were cast about at journey’s end to establish one’s territory (see Manu 8.237).
The “royal soma drinking” (vājapeyya) is a rite where, after a horse race, the king drinks the soma, giving him superhuman strength and prowess in battle, and at which several animals, sometimes said to be seventeen, are sacrificed. This is said to be a higher sacrifice that establishes a king as emperor (see Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 5.1.1).
↩ sn3.9:4.2
The niraggaḷa is probably a form of the horse sacrifice where the horse is “unimpeded”, thus establishing the king as similarly unstoppable. The Buddha adopted the term for arahants (MN 22:34.1[).
↩ sn3.9:4.3
The anukula (“propitious”) sacrifice is mentioned several times (eg. DN 5:22.4, AN 4.40:2.2). The Pali commentaries interpret it as “in line with (anu-) family (kula)”. But nothing in the contexts connects it with family customs, nor is such a term known in Sanskrit. It seems rather to be a misunderstanding of Sanskrit anukūla, literally “along the riverbank”, and in applied use, “in conformity with”, “favorable to”, as in the favor of the gods. This is the standard reading in Buddhist Sanskrit. Such a sacrifice is characterized, not by family custom, but by harmlessness. Thus anukula means “propitious, favored (by the gods and the Dhamma)”.
↩ sn3.9:6.3