Vedic Sacrifices

[Vidhyanath K. Rao]

> Taking this thread, would it be appropriate to pose another series of
> questions? Why animal sacrifice?

Because gods eat what we eat?

I thought that meat had the following advantages for those living in
mid latitudes: [So being vegetarian works only in the tropics. I survive
in US because trucks and ships are common. I do hope that petroleum does
not run out too soon :-] Most important is that meat on hooves stays fresh
as opposed to vegetables and fruits which are seasonal. Pastoralists
face the problem of too many male animals: mammals produce young with
a sex-ratio of 1-1, while  pastoralists need only about 1-10 (male to
female). Ox-carts were in use but still I think that they would not
have needed so many. And male goats and sheep would not have been
very popular for draught. And finally, before 20th century, animals
ate mostly cellulose which humans cannot digest. So cattle, sheep and
goats serve as external stomachs.

-Nath