In India at the time of the Buddha. the predominant religion was Hinduism. The Hindu Brahmins and priests often made animal sacrifices to the gods. The Buddha rejected animal sacrifices and the Hindus only stopped the use of sacrifices and adopted vegetarianism in large numbers after the time of the Buddha. "These great sacrifices, fraught with violence, do not hring great fruit. The great seers of right conduct do not attend that sacrifice where goats, sheep, and cattle of various kinds are slain." Samyutta Nikaya 3.393-394 Once there was a Brahmin who was planning a large sacrifice which consisted of 3.500 animals of cattle and goats. The Buddha explains to him that a bloodless sacrifice is much better, such as giving gifts of generosity and practicing the precepts. He explains about a king who practices sacrifices of generosity for his people and how in this sacrifice. Brahmin. no bulls were slain no goats. or sheep. no cocks and pigs4%r were various living beings subiect to slaughter. Digha Nikaya 5.18 The famous King Ashoka. of India converted to Buddhism. was a vegetarian. and was the first ruler to pass laws against animal cruelty. He erected many pillars honoring Buddhist teachings and there is much archeological evidence confirming Ashoka's nale King Ashoka lived and ruled during the third century before Christ. only a couple of hundred years after the Buddha One of Ashoka's edicts read"Progress of men comes from the exhortation in fnvr of non-injury to lie and abstention from killing living beings." Dhammika. Edicts of Ashoka) when the Buddhist scriptures were written there was an obvious controversy(which continues to this day) about the consumption of meat. It that the monks who liked to eat meat put appears verses into the scriptures that seemed to allow meat eating. At the same time the vegetarian monks put verses in the scriptures which strictly forbade meat eating