Numbered Discourses 4
4. Situations
40. With Udāyī
Then Udāyī the brahmin went up to the Buddha, … and said to him: “Does Master 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 animals are slaughtered. I don’t praise that kind of violent sacrifice.
But take the kind of sacrifice where cattle, goats and sheep, chickens and pigs, and various kinds of animals are not slaughtered. I do praise that kind of non-violent sacrifice; for example, a regular gift as an ongoing family sacrifice.
A sacrifice at the right time,
which is allowable and deliberately non-violent,
is attended by
restrained spiritual practitioners.The Buddhas—who have drawn back the veil from the world,
transcending time and rebirth—
praise this sacrifice,
as they are expert in sacrifice.When you’ve prepared a suitable offering,
whether as sacrifice or for ancestors,
sacrifice it with confident heart,
in the fertile field of spiritual practitioners.When it’s well-gotten, well-offered, and well-sacrificed,
to those worthy of a teacher’s offering,
a sacrifice is truly abundant,
and even the deities are pleased.When an intelligent, faithful person,
sacrifices like this, with a mind of letting go,
that astute one is reborn
in a happy, pleasing world.”