Nirodbaran

Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo

Second Series

1. Spirituality

Animal-sacrifice, Self-sacrifice, Spiritual Sacrifice

Is there any truth behind animal sacrifices to Kali?

If animal sacrifices are to be made they may just as well be made to Kali as to one's stomach – the Europeans who object to it have no locus standi.

Is the killing of mosquitoes, bugs, snakes and scorpions permissible for self-protection?

Certainly. One might just as well object to the killing of germs by fumigation or otherwise.

What about the sacrifice of harmless animals to Kali?

Useless and therefore inadvisable. External sacrifices of this kind have no longer any meaning – as so many saints have said, sacrifice ego, anger, lust etc. to Kali, not goats or cocks.

How does the Divine benefit by it? Very hungry, I suppose – would like a nice goat-chop?

I wonder if you know that some Sharma has gone on hunger-strike to stop the sacrifices at Calcutta. Tagore supports him.

Of course, I know. But he objects  to animal sacrifice; why does he make a goat offering of himself to Kali? Is human sacrifice better than animal sacrifice?

The argument is: what does the loss of one life matter if by it other lives can be saved?

I know the South African saying “How glorious if the whole world were to destroy itself to save the life a single mosquito.” I used always to wonder what would become of the poor mosquito if the world were destroyed? It seemed to my poor common sense that it would perish also in the glorious holocaust.

04.10.1935