Vedic Sacrifices

[bala at biomechanics.asri.edu]

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I apologize to the regular users of the list for this question.I know this 
forum is mainly for professional Indologists, but realizing that newsgroups 
such as soc.culture.indian etc, have a very high noise-to-signal ratio, i am 
forced to submit this question here.

With the above caveat, here is my problem. Is it just hearsay that the Vedas 
describe a number of animal sacrifices and that Vedic Brahmins were 
essentially meat-eaters? And is vegetarianism among present day Brahmins an 
aftermath of Buddhism?

I would appreciate if anyone could at least point me to some reliable books
or references that could answer my questions. Thanks in advance.

-Bala Deshpande.
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