In Brahmana-texts, the killing aspect of animal sacrifice is not fully acknowledged and it is only described euphemistically. However, while researching the issue of animal sacrifice of the Agnicayana, it was found that in the White Yajurveda-texts, slaying scenes are narrated more clearly than in the Black Yajurveda-texts. In the first part of this paper, detailed evidence for this contention is presented. In the second part, animal sacrifices included in the Soma sacrifice are analyzed, also using the same texts as the Agnicayana. It is concluded that in the case of both types of animal sacrifices, the slaying scenes are described more directly in the White Yajurveda-texts compared to the Black Yajurvada-texts. Moreover, sacrificial acts are explicitly connected with the victim's immortality and rebirth only in the Satapatha Brahmana. Generally, in the Brahmana-texts, the concept of the victim's immortality and rebirth is regarded as a means of euphemistically sophisticating the killing element. However, the attitude of Satapatha Brahmana towards killing suggests the opposite, that is, the killing act is stated more clearly in the Satapatha Brahmana in order to emphasize the concept. Interestingly, in the process of sophisticating the ritual, certain ancient sacrificial acts are sometimes highlighted in order to assert new concepts.
