Contrary to the views of  many modern scholars the Vedic animal sacrifice did not encourage meat-eating or the mistreatment of animals. Rather it taught the common people, who could not be expected to be vegetarian at that more primitive state of society, the sacred nature of the animal and that it should only be killed as an offering to the Gods. Hence the animal sacrifice instilled not only a reverence for the sacred but also a respect for animal life, which was seen as belonging to the Gods.  

Important Brahmanas are the Aitareya, Shatapatha, Kaushitaki, Taittiriya and Chandogya. They are longer, sometimes much longer than their respective Upanishads. This is not because they were more important but because their teaching was more complex. However, they repeat a certain set ritual and so are all variations on the same teaching. The rituals were aligned with the seasons and the equinoxes and were the basis for the calendar the culture followed.

The Forest Text : The Aranyakas  

Between the Brahmanas and Upanishads are a few secondary texts. These are called Aranyakas or Forest texts to be used by those who left society to reside in the forest to gain spiritual knowledge. They combine ritual passages with philosophical texts and some Upanishads are contained within them or appendices to them. An important Aranyaka is the Taittiriya.

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