Udāyī sutta: With Udāyī

Then Udāyī the brahmin went up to the Buddha, … and asked him, “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 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 creatures are not slaughtered. I do praise that kind of non-violent sacrifice; for example, a regular gift as a propitious sacrifice.

Well-prepared and non-violent,
a sacrifice that’s allowable and timely,
is attended by
disciplined spiritual practitioners.

The Buddhas—<j>who have cast off the world’s veil,
passing beyond 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, <j>and well-sacrificed,
to those worthy of a religious donation,
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.”