ABSTRACT
This chapter explains human sacrifice in various aspects such as in the Indus Civilisation, in the Vedas and also in tribal traditions. It also talks about the marginalisation of human sacrifice in the great tradition and the evidence for human sacrifice in Buddhist literature. The human sacrifice continued in certain religious traditions in India in late 19th century CE, while there is also sample evidence that human sacrifice was looked upon by many with dismay and repugnance. The myths about human sacrifice reflect this social ambivalence. Many of the 50 million adivasi, or tribal peoples, speak their own non-Indo-European and non-Dravidian languages and follow their own particular social and religious customs, some of which included human sacrifice. The Buddhist literature uses human sacrifice as an exemplar of the cruelty of sacrifice practices in general, or, when it focuses on self-sacrificial behaviour, as an ideal of generous conduct.
