Talk:Narabali
By Swami Harshananda
narabali (‘human sacrifice’)
The word ‘Puruṣamedha’ (‘sacrificing a human being’) occurs in Āpastamba Śrautasutras (20.24, 25) and Baudhāyana Srautasutras (24.11). It is a type of Somayāga spread over five days.
Whether a puruṣa (human being) was actually sacrificed or whether the whole act had been symbolical, is difficult to ascertain.
There are references to narabali in the Śatapatha Brāhmana (1.2.3,6) and the Taittiriya Samhitā (2.2.2,4) also.
According to one view, since a large quantity of human and animal bones were recovered at the site of excavations at Kauśāmbi (the modern Kosam, about 50 kms. [31 miles] to the east of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh) including an ancient altar, this sacrifice must have existed.
According to other scholars, the rite was only symbolical. After the paryagni-karaṇa rite—wherein the āgnidhra priest goes round the human beings and the animals with a lighted torch—the human
beings are released and only goats are sacrificed (vide P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra Vol. 3, Poona, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1946; pages 961-2).
In the purāṇas we do come across the practice of narabali by certain aboriginal cults (vide Bhāgavata 5.9.15 to 17). The great spiritual teacher Śaṅkara (A. D. 788-820) is said to have been approached for sacrifice by the Kāpālikas. He was later on saved by his disciple Padmapāda.
We find a reference to Puruṣamedha in the story of Hariścandra as given in the Bhāgavata (9.7) wherein Śunaśśepha was about to be offered to Varuṇa but was saved by his prayer to that deity.
The rite might have existed at least in the most aboriginal tribes.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore