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HISTORY OF VEGETARIANISM IN INDIA
Water is the most common means of appeasing (śānti) or healing (bhesaja, niskrti), and the same or similar formulations are used in other contexts too, for example, when the grain for the sacrificial cakes is threshed and ground and thereby injured or killed,311 and when the earth is dug up for the construction of the vedi312 or for the erection of the sacrificial post. 313
Another way of avoiding injury is found in the symbolical identifications. To prevent the fire-pan from being injured by the fire, the adhvaryu
fumigates it with horse-dung so that it is not injured, for the horse, in truth, belongs to Prajāpati, (and) Agni is Prajāpati, (and) oneself does not, in truth, injure oneself. That (he does) with dung since that is what was eaten (and therefore) useless. Thus he does not injure the horse nor the other animals. 314
A pit is dug for depositing the fire-pan while a yajus is recited for which the following motivation is given:
Prajapati thought: 'He who will dig her (the earth) up first, will suffer harm.' He saw this yajus: 'Aditi ... shall dig you in the lap of the earth, o pit'; Aditi ... is, in truth, this (earth); with her, in truth, he dug that (pit) in her so as to do no injury (to her), for oneself does not injure oneself.315
From the last passage it appears that the precautionary measure is taken in order to prevent the being injured from taking revenge on the sacrificer. In a number of instances ahimsāyai refers to the prevention of injury to the sacrificer, his progeny and cattle. [649] Preventing or healing every possible injury to any being is
311 ŚB 1, 2, 2, 11.14. 312 MS 3, 2, 3. 313 TS 6, 3, 4, 1. KS 26,5. 314 SB 6,5, 3, 9 aśvasakair dhūpayati, prājāpatyo vā aśvaḥ prajāpatir agnir na vā
ātmātmānam hinasty ahimsāyai tad vai saknaiva tad dhi jagdham yātayāma tatho
ha naivāśvam hinasti netarān paśūn. 315 MS 3, 1,8 prajāpatir amanyata: yo va asyā agre vikhanisyaty artim, sa ārisyatīti.
sa etad yajur apaśyad: aditis tvā... prthivyāḥ sadhasthe ... khanatv avațetīyam vā aditis ... anayā vai sa tad asyām akhanad ahimsāyai na hi svaḥ svam hinasti.
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