Sacrifice and Violence: Paśubali in Nepal

Animal sacrifice in Nepal—known as paśubali—exemplifies the complexities of ritual animal sacrifice. It also complicates understandings of the relationships between sacrifice and violence. The word "violence" in sacrificial studies has been met with resistance in recent decades, and violence interpreted as "aggressive behavior," "domination," or "savagery" has been met with the most resistance. Interpretations of "violence," however, are varied and should be considered when examining the role(s) of violence in sacrifice. When "aggressive violence" becomes the focus of sacrificial studies, other important aspects of sacrifice may be neglected. This can be demonstrated through an analysis of paśubali in Nepal. Paśubali in Nepal exemplifies a practice in which layers of both "violent" and "non-violent" components interconnect to form a web of inter-related constituents, none of which is independent of another.