It is believed that the nourishment is received by the inhalation of the aroma or essence rising from the offerings. Manu states that creatures dying in this way are conveyed to abodes of bliss. The sacrifice is mystically identified with the victim ; it is regarded as the ransom for sin and the instrument of annulment. A third reason for sacrifice is the acquirement of superhuman power by means of which the gods may be compelled to grant their favours.
The killing of human beings was repugnant to the Aryan instinct, and the horse was substituted for man, the part of man that was suitable as an offering to the deity entering the horse. From the horse the same part passed into the ox, and from thence to the sheep and the goat. The horse and the ox are no longer used in sacrifice, but the sheep and goats—in some parts of the Presidency buffaloes and pigs also—are still in use. To the orthodox Brahmin, however, blood is abhorrent, and he is content to offer to his deity the inanimate products of the earth.
