Vol. 4 · pages 131–135

120 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES “Let it not be presented in an iron vessel, nor in one made of the hide of an animal, or the bark of tree; nor in a pewter, tin, or leaden vessel. Let not the blood be represented in the holy vessel named Srub and Sruch, nor on the ground. Let it not be presented in the Ghata (i.e. an earthern-jar always used in other religious ceremonies). Let it not be presented by pouring it on the ground, or into any of the vessels used at other times for offering food to the Deity, Let not the good man who wishes for prosperity, offer the blood in any of these vessels. Human blood must always be presented in a metallic or earthern vessel; and never on any account in a vessel made of leaves, or similar substance. “The offering of a horse, except at the Aswamedha sacrifice, is wrong, as also offering an elephant, except at the Gaja Medha; Let therefore the ruler of men observe never to offer them except on those occasions. And on no account whatsoever let him offer them to the Goddess Devi, using the wild bull called Chanrara as a substitute for the horse, when the occasion required one.” “Let not the Brahman ever offer a lion or a tiger, or his own blood, or spirituous liquors to the Goddess Devi. If a Brahmen sacrifices either a lion, a tiger, or a man, he goes to hell, and passes but a short time in this world attended with misery and misfortune.” “If a Brahman offers his own blood, his guilt is equal to that of the slayers of a Brahman; and if he offers spirituous liquors he is no longer a Brahman.” “Let not a Cshectree offer an entelope; if he does, he incurs the guilt of a Brahmin slayer where the sacrifice of lions, or tigers, or of the human species is required, let the three first classes act thus; having formed the image of the lion, tiger, or human shape with butter, paste, or barley meal, let them sacrifice the same as if a living victim, the axe being first invoked by the text Nomo, &c. “Where the sacrifice of a number of animals is to take place it is sufficient to bring and present two or three to the Deity, which serves as a consecration of the whole. I have now related to you, O Bhairava, in general terms, the ceremonies and forms of sacrifices attend now to the different texts to be used on the several different occasions.” “When a buffalo is presented to Devi, Bhairavee, or Bhairava let the sacrificer use the following Mantra in invoking the victim.” “In the manner that thou destroyest, Horses, in the manner that thou earnest Chandica, destroy my enemies, and bear prosperity to me, O Buffalo!”

121RIDDLE NO. 15 “O steed of death, of exquisite and unperishable form, produce me long life and fame. Salutation to thee, o buffalo!” “Now attend to the particulars relative to the offering of human blood.” “Let a human victim be sacrificed at a place of holy worship, or at a cemetery where dead bodies are burried. Let the oblation be performed in the part of the cemetery called Heruca, which has been already described, or at a temple of Camachya, or on a mountain. Now attend to the mode.” “The cemetery represents me, and is called Bhairava, it has also a part called Tantarange; the cemetery must be divided into these two division, and a third called Heruca.” “The human victim is to be immolated in the east division which is sacred to Bhairava, the head is to be presented in the south division, which is looked upon as the place sculls sacred to Bhairavi, and the blood is to be presented in the west division, which is denominated Heruca.” “Having immolated a human victim, with all the requisite ceremonies at a cemetery or holy place, let the sacrificer be cautious not to cast eyes upon the victim.” “On other occasion also, let not the sacrificer, cast eyes upon the victim immolated, but present the head with eyes averted.” “The victim must be a person of good appearance, and be prepared by ablutions, and requisite ceremonies, such as eating consecrated food the day before, and by abstinance from flesh and venery; and must be adorned with chaplets of flowers and besmeared with sandal wood.” “Then causing the victim to face the north, let the sacrificer worship the several deities presiding over the different parts of the victims body; let the worship be then paid to the victim himself by his name.” “Thus let the sacrificer worship the victim, adding whatever other texts are applicable to the occasion, and have been before mentioned. “Let not the female, whether quadruped or bird, or a woman be ever sacrificed; the sacrificer of either will indubitably fall into hell, where the victim of either the beasts or birds creation, are very numerous, the immolation of a female is excusable; but this rule does not hold good, as to the human species.” “Let not a Brahman or a Chandala be sacrificed; nor a prince; nor that which has already been presented to a Brahmen, or a deity; nor the offspring of a prince, nor who has conquered in battle; nor

122 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES the offspring of a Brahman, or of a Cshettree; nor a childless brother, nor a father, nor a learned person, nor one who is unwilling, nor the maternal uncle of the sacrificer. Those not here named, and animals, and birds of unknown species are unfit. If these named are not forthcoming, let their place be supplied by a male ass or camel. If other animals are forthcoming, the sacrifice of a tiger, camel, or ass must be avoided.” “Having first worshipped the victim, whether human, beast, or bird, as directed, let the sacrificer, immolate him uttering the Mantra directed for the occasion, and address the deity with the text laid down before.” “Let the head and blood of a human victim be presented on the right side of Devi, and the sacrificer address her standing in front. Let the head and blood of birds be presented on the left and the blood of a person’s own body in front. Let the ambrosia proceeding from the heads of carnivorous animals and birds be presented on the left hand, as also the blood of all aquatic animals.” “Let the antelope’s head and blood, and that of the tortoise, rhinoceros and hare and crocodile, and fish be presented in front.” “Let a lion’s head and blood, be presented on the right hand, and the rhinoceros’s also; let not, on any account, the head or blood of a victim ever be presented behind the Deity, but on the right, left and in front.” “Let the consecrated lamp, be placed either on the right hand, or in front but on no account, on the left. Let incense be burnt on the left, and in front, but not on the right hand. Let perfumes, flowers and ornaments, be presented in front; with respect to the different parts of the circle, where to present the offerings, the mode already laid down may be observed. Let Madira (spirituous liquor) be presented behind other liquids on the left.” “Where it is absolutely necessary to offer spirits, let the three first classes of men supply their place, by coconut juice in a brass vessel, or honey in a copper one. Even in a time of calamity, let not a man of the three first classes, offer spirituous liquor, except that made from flowers, or stewed dishes. Let princes, ministers of state, counsellors, and vendors of spirituous liquors, make human sacrifices, for the purpose of attaining prosperity and wealth.” “If a human sacrifice is performed, without the consent of the prince, the performer incurs sin. In cases of imminent danger or war, sacrifices may be performed at pleasure, by princes themselves and their ministers, but by none else.”

123RIDDLE NO. 15 “The day previous to a human sacrifice, let the victim be prepared by the text Manastac, and three Devi Gandha Sucthas, and the texts Wadrang; and by touching his head with the axe, and besmearing the axe with sandal &c, perfumes, and then taking some of the sandal, &c, from off the axe, and besmearing the victim’s neck therewith.” “Then let the text Ambe Ambica, &c, and the Towdra and Bhairava texts be used, and Devi herself will guard the victim who, when thus purified, malady does not approach him, nor does his mind suffer any derangement from grief and similar causes, nor does the death or birth of a kinsman render him impure.” ***** “Having secured the victim with cords, and also with (Mantras) let him strike off the head, and present it to Devi, with due care. Let him make these sacrifices in proportion to the increase or decrease of his enemies, chopping off the heads of victims for the purpose of bringing destruction on his foes, infusing, by holy texts, the soul of the enemy into the body of the victim, which will when immolated, deprive the foe of life also.” “The blood must be drawn for the express purpose of an oblation, and from a man pure in body and mind, and free from fear; it must be caught in the petal of lotus and presented. It may be presented in a gold, silver, brass or iron vessel, with the due from, the texts recited.” “The blood, if drawn by incision made with a knife, axe or sangeul, gives pleasure, in proportion to the size of the weapon.” “The sacrificer may present one fourth of the quantity which a lotus petal will contain, but he must not give more on any account; nor cut his body more than is necessary. He who willingly offers the blood of his body and his own flesh, the size of a grain of linseed, Masha, tila, or mudya, with zeal and fervency, obtains what he desires in the course of six months.” He who performs sacrifices according to these rules, obtains, his wishes to the utmost extent.” ***** This is the Dharma which the Kali Purana preaches. After centuries of Ahimsa ordained by Manu here is Himsa in full blast sanctioned by the Tantras in its worst and all inclusive form—

124 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES animal and human Himsa. These Himsa practices preached in the sanguinary chapter of Kali Purana had become quite widespread. As to the revival of animal sacrifice what happens at the Kali Temple in Calcutta furnishes unmistakable proof. That this temple should have become a perfect slaughter house where daily hundreds of goats are sacrificed to appease the Goddess Kali can only be explained by the teachings of the Kali Purana. Today human beings are not sacrificed to the Goddess Kali. But it does not mean that it never happened. On the contrary there is abundant evidence to show that human sacrifice like animal sacrifice was practised as taught by the Kali Purana. Dr. Rajendralal Mitra says 1: “The fact is well known that for a long time the rite (of Human Sacrifice) was common all over Hindustan; and persons are not wanting who suspect that there are still nooks and corners in India, where human victims are occasionally slaughtered for the gratification of the Devi. In old families which belong to the sect of the Vamacharis, and whose ancestors formerly offered human victims at the Durga and the Kali Pujas, a practice still obtains of sacrificing an effigy, in lieu of a living man. The effigy, a foot long, is made of dried milk (khira), and sacrified according to the formula laid down in the Kalika Purana the only addition being a few mantras designed typically to vivify the image. A friend of mine, Babu Hemachandra Ker, Deputy Magistrate of twenty four Pergunnahs and author of an excellent work on the culture of Jute in Bengal informs me that in the eastern districts of Bengal this sacrifice is frequently performed; but the image instead of being slaughtered by a single individual, is cut up simultaneously by all the grown up members of the family, either with separate knives, or with a single knife held jointly by all. This is known by the name of Satruball or “sacrifice of any enemy”. The sacrifice, both in the case of Nara Bali and the Satru Bali is performed secretly, generally at midnight. The Satrubali, however, is a distinct rite, apart from the Narabali of the Kalika Purana, and authority for it occurs in the Vrihannila Tantra, in which it is said, after performing certain other rites therein described, “a king should sacrifice his enemy (in an effigy) made with dried milk (khira). He should slaughter it himself, looking at it with a fiery glance, striking deep, and dividing it into two with a single stroke. This should be done after infusing life into it by the rite of Prana Pratishtha, and repeating the name of the person to be destroyed. O consort of Mahesa, he doubtless destroys thereby his enemies.” 1Indo-Aryans Vol. II. pp. 109-111.