aśuddhamiti cenna śabdāt ..3.1.26..

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aśuddhamiti cenna śabdāt ..3.1.26..

Ashuddham, impure, hurtful, unholy, .. Iti, so, thus. ... Chet, if. … Na, no. …. Shabdat, on the ground of the Scripture, on account of the Word.

26. If it be said that every sacrificial act is unholy, we say it is not so, because the scripture declares it so. — 317.

COMMENTARY

Objection: An objector says it is wrong to assert that the descending soul merely clings to the bodies of rice, corn, etc., which are themselves animated by other souls, and that they are not born there for the purpose of retributive enjoyment; for there are no Karmas left to be enjoyed in the bodies of plants, etc. Some Karmas are loft, whose proper place of retributive enjoyment is the body of plants. All Karmas are of two sorts, namely, the sacrificial Karmas and non-sacrificial Karmas or conduct (Charana). The fruit of sacrificial Karmas is not fully exhausted in the Moon-world. No sacrifice performed with the object of attaining heaven is free from a tinge of impurity. All such sacrifices require the killing of animals and cannot be said to be pure. For every killing is really a sin. The Scriptures declare «Ma himsyat sarva bhutani», let him not kill any animal. This declares a universal rule. The killing of animals in sacrifices, like «Agnishomiya» is unholy. Such a sacrifice is thus a mixed Karma. Its holy portion takes the soul to the Heaven-world, and is exhausted there completely. Its sinful portion causes the soul to be born as rice, corn, etc. As says Manu in XII., 9:

The soul is born as a plant owing to the sins committed by the body; it becomes a bird or a beast for the sins of speech, and an outcaste for the mental sins.

The soul is, therefore, actually born as rice, corn, etc., and is not a mere co-tenant with the Jivas of plants.

Reply: The objection thus raised is not valid. The sacrificial acts are not unholy, because the scriptures enjoin it The Veda declares ‘Agnishomiyam pashum alabheta’, «Let him sacrifice an animal sacred to Agni-shomau». Since the Veda enjoins the killing of animals, it cannot be unholy. For the right or wrong, holiness or un-holiness of an action, is to be learnt from the Veda alone. Therefore, those sacrifices which enjoin killing of animals must be considered to be holy and cannot be considered unrighteous, because killing of animals in sacrifices is enjoined by the Vedas. Let him not kill any animal is a general proposition, but to this there is the exception that animals may be killed in Yajnas like the Agnishomiya sacrifice. Hence every killing is not a sin. A general proposition and an exception have different scopes, settled by usage, and so there is no conflict between them. Hence it follows that the soul on its descent becomes rice, corn, etc., not to expiate for the sins of having killed animals in sacrifices for such killing is no sin; but it becomes rice, etc., in the sense of clinging to those plants and not really becoming plants. The soul is perfectly unconscious in these stages.

What becomes of the soul after its clinging to the plants is next mentioned.

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