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Vasu in the Mah bh rata. In the ntiparva of Mah bh rata, from all chapters from Vasudevahi d onwards, in most sections there are related accounts. The old and popularly accepted Jain and Vai ava scriptures unanimously agree on the fact that the original source of killing animals for sacrificial rituals was the usage of the term 'goat' in the place of that which does not grow' and the Cedi king Vasu's decision favouring this untruth. That by merely uttering the word of using animal sacrifice in rituals uparicara Vasu had to fall into the dark abyss of the netherworld, in this context, the brief introduction to Vasu as given in the Mah bh rata is as follows:
Seeing king Vasu in intense penance, Indra got a doubt that if he continues this way, he will one day take away my position. Perturbed by this doubt, Indra came to Vasu and in order to disengage him from his penance, gave him, besides the vast Cedi kingdom and a crystalline gemstudded airborne palace, a boon of being omniscient. Vasu's capital was by the banks of the river aktimat. Because he roamed around in the airborne palace given to him by Indra, he became popular as uparicara Vasu. Uparicara Vasu was truthful, non-violent and used to have pure food. Amgirasa son, B haspati was his preceptor. Ruling justly and diligently king Vasu conducted a great sacrifice of the a vameghaSixteen great sages such as B haspati, Hot, lihotra, Kapila, Vai amp yana and Ka va were present in that ritual with total nonviolent feeling. The potion of gods was fixed from the fruits, roots, etc from the forests used for this ritual. Lord Nr ya a, happy with this ritual of Vasu, appeared before him and accepted the sacrificial oblation offered to him. After completing the great a vameghasacrifice, king Vasu looked after his subjects for a long time.
Once, a debate ensued between the gods and sages regarding the oblations used in the sacrifice. The gods told the sages - "ajairya avyam”, that is, goats, should be used for sacrifice – by this, they meant 'aja' should be translated as 'goat'. To this, the sages said – seeds should be used in sacrifice. That is what the Vaidika rutis say. Seeds are called aja, it is not right to sacrifice a goat in the name of aja. Wherever animals are sacrificed in rituals those rituals are not ones in keeping with truth, men or religion.
At the time when this debate was going on between gods and sages, the great king Vasu reached there through the skyway on his palace. Seeing
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