Lord Krishna's opinion on animal sacrifice

Question

In Srimad Bhagwatam 11:21:29-30, Lord Krishna opposes animal sacrifice,

Those who are sworn to sense gratification cannot understand the confidential conclusion of Vedic knowledge as explained by Me. Taking pleasure in violence, they cruelly slaughter innocent animals in sacrifice for their own sense gratification and thus worship demigods, forefathers and leaders among ghostly creatures. Such passion for violence, however, is never encouraged within the process of Vedic sacrifice.

But in Brahma Purana 79.21 he himself asked people of gokula to please govardhana by animal sacrifice,

“[Krishna said] Hence, let the mountain Govardhana be honoured and worshipped with all due offerings after killing the sacrificial animal in accordance with injunctions.

Why Lord Krishna's opinion is contradictory about animal sacrifice? How to reconcile this contradiction?

Note:- I am not asking whether animal sacrifice was practised in Vedic period or not. I am just asking about Lord Krishna's opinion on it.

Answer 1

Why Lord Krishna's opinion is contradictory about animal sacrifice? How to reconcile this contradiction?

He says:

हिंसायां यदि राग: स्याद् यज्ञ एव न चोदना

Such passion for violence, however, is never encouraged within the process of Vedic sacrifice.

This is true. The Vedas don't enjoin animal sacrifice to encourage violence or the passion/desire for violence. On the contrary, animal sacrifice is intended to slowly wean meat eaters away from meat consumption to vegetarianism.

This is supported by the Bhagavatam itself in another place, although it is said by Narada and not Krishna:

In this world, there is always indulgence in sex, meat, and liquor consumption by living beings, but there is no injunction for this.

The activity of these things through marriage, animal sacrifice, and offerings of liquor respectively, is meant to bring about their cessation.

So there is no contradiction.