"Animals Will Go To Heaven"--Justification of Animal Sacrifice in the Legal Treatise in Hinduism

As a form of religious violence, animal sacrifice is a contentious but deeply rooted element in religions generally and in Indian religions specifically. Despite the overarching principle of non-violence, as espoused in Hindu theology, there exists a complex discourse wherein theologians endeavor to justify sacrificial violence towards animals. This paper examines the apologetics of violence in the Manubhāṣya (ca. 9th century), the exegesis of the Mānavadharmaśāstra (ca. 200 BCE-200 CE), which is the most influential legal treatise in pre-modern India. Through textual analysis, this paper scrutinizes how the exegesis defends sacrificial violence by highlighting the spiritual benefits accrued by the sacrificial animals and plants, although animals and plants are deemed incapable of actively seeking liberation. By analyzing this rhetoric of benefits, this research investigates how legal scholars in medieval India understand the spirituality of animals, their potential for liberation, and the notion of their hypothetical consent in sacrificial rituals.