Then Ujjaya the brahmin went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him.
When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha:
“Does the worthy Gotama praise sacrifice?”
“Brahmin, I don’t praise all sacrifices.
Nor do I criticize all sacrifices.
Take the kind of sacrifice where cattle, goats and sheep, chickens and pigs, and various kinds of creatures are slaughtered.
I criticize that kind of violent sacrifice.
Why is that?
Because neither perfected ones nor those who are on the path to perfection will attend such a violent sacrifice.
But take the kind of sacrifice where cattle, goats and sheep, chickens and pigs, and various kinds of creatures are not slaughtered.
I praise that kind of non-violent sacrifice; for example, a regular gift as an propitious sacrifice.
Why is that?
Because perfected ones and those who are on the path to perfection will attend such a non-violent sacrifice.
Horse sacrifice, human sacrifice,
the sacrifices of the ‘casting of the yoke-pin’,
the ‘royal soma drinking’, and the ‘unbarred’—
these huge violent sacrifices yield no great fruit.
The great sages of right comportment
don’t attend sacrifices
where goats, sheep, and cattle,
and various creatures are killed.
But the great sages of right comportment
do attend those sacrifices
that are non-violent and propitious,
where goats, sheep, and cattle,
and various creatures are not killed.
An intelligent person should sacrifice like this,
for this sacrifice is very fruitful.
For a sponsor of sacrifices like this,
things get better, not worse.
Such a sacrifice is truly abundant,
and even the deities are pleased.”