If a living body is cut into pieces (such as a rock), does the soul cover the space of both?

words, or being coextensive with its body. Notice also that the same grows fat on high living, or grows thin by disease. Indeed the little new-born baby becomes a big boy, then a bigger powerful man, and then a weak, emaciated old man; yet all through, the same one individual consciousness completely fills the body in its different sizes. The soul is capable of contraction and expansion. The Soul Arts and Enjoys. Look at the living-non-living mixture from another point of view. We attribute activity and enjoyment to it. We say of a man's act: What a good or bad thing he has done. When a man acts without restraint or rashly and comes to grief, we say: this is the fruit of his folly." If a man is good, and prosperous, we say: "Oh! he does deserve it all and more." These popular phrases really have a philosophical significance. They attribute responsibility and reward to our consciousness. They imply that this consciousness is an active, responsible agent; is the Doer of all actions; and is the Enjoyer of the fruits of these actions, good or bad. It is necessary to remember these, lest we should fall into the error of exempting the soul, ego or individual consciousness from all responsibility for his actions, good or bad, and thus at one stroke uproot all ethical distinctions and fullstop to discriminate actions. Page #51 (AI-GENERATED, RESEARCH USE ONLY): --------------------------- ====================== | Romanization (original text) | ====================== 40 We must also draw a distinction between the actions and the inner activity, to which these external actions are due. From the practical point of view we must emphasise the external actions, and from the real point of view their causes in the inner activity of our consciousness. But the responsible agent of both these is the individual consciousness itself. Consciousness is as such purely itself, i.e. quite separate from matter which is unconscious, lifeless. From this pure or real point of view, we may say that all action and enjoyment of the soul is within its own consciousness. The Soul is Immaterial. Once more let us compare our categories, the Living and Nonliving. The most obvious form of non-living substance is matter; as iron, dry wood, sapphire, stone wall, key of our lock, our table, chair and innumerable other objects conveniently handy for this investigation to anyone at all times and at all places. That is the chief characterstic of this mass of matter of so many kinds? It is obviously this: It can be known by the senses. It has colour; we can see that coal is black; sapphire is blue; gold is yellow, ruby is red; and snow is white. Again if we taste various kinds of matter we find that pepper is pungent, that aloes is bitter, that salt is saline, that the juice of an unripe mango is acid, and that sugar is sweet. Again rose essence smells sweet, Sulphur does not smell nice. Also, iron is cold, dry wood is not compared with iron; silk is smooth; sand is rough; cotton is soft; stone is hard; a feather is light and lead is heavy. We can sum up these 5 colours, five tastes, two smells and eight touches as the more obvious characteristics of lifeless matter. None of these twenty is found to characterise Consciousness, or pure life. Of course when life is mixed with non-living matter, it assumes all these distinctions of colour, taste, smell, and touch. Thus embodied consciousness does have colour, taste, etc. Soul is not matter. Byron rightly said that is the matter never mind him what is the mind, no matter. By "mind" we must mean the taking Ego, the soul. Possibility of Omniscience. This point is radical and deserves a little more consideration. Above we have seen vitalities, attention, conation, knowledge, doing and enjoying, and co-extension with the body to be the observed characteristics of the living substance. Here we may pause for a moment to consider these characteristics also. They were all Page #52 (AI-GENERATED, RESEARCH USE ONLY): --------------------------- ====================== | Romanization (original text) | ====================== 41 derived from our observation of a dead corpse and a living reader of these words. In the corpse, we simply noted the absence of the living and thus indirectly inferred that what was absent, belonged to and was taken away by the living substance when it left the corpse lifeless. The living reader gave us mostly the psychic stages of conation and knowledge. But in all these we are not able to study or observe pure life. Indeed it must be confessed frankly that there is absolutely no means at present of our studying life or soul directly and fully in its pure condition without any admixture of matter in it. We are in the world. There is no pure soul in this world of ours. All are embodied or mundane souls. In studying them, except in abstract thought, we cannot separate the living soul from its sheath of non-living matter, i. e., the body. But the living embodied soul also can exhibit in the world

purpose. These worms look very adorable. The worms are put in baskets filled with mulberry leaves. They eat continuously and grow fat. When they stop growing they are transferred to different wooden baskets with spiral compartments filled with stems of straws 2,500 silkworms and twigs. Here the worms have very little are boiled or baked space to move. To attach themselves to the alive to make one twigs the worms spin a web. While moving around the worms secretes a gum-like silk sari! fluid that hardens the silk threads together. After spinning for about 3 days a cocoon formation is completed around the worm. Now the worms change into a pupa that Did you know? 120 catior THE FIRST STEP OF JAINISM Page #121 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SILK lives inside the cocoon. It matures until it Silkworm pupas have to die so humans can becomes a moth which can emerge out of wear silk. the cocoon. This is not the end of story of the silk moth. If the pupas were allowed to have their To harvest healthy moths and to preserve natural life they would grow inside the high quality of silk threads, the moths have cocoon to a silk moth in about 3 weeks. to go through different types of treatments However, they are not allowed to reach in the labs. this stage because when the worms break If we touch a hot pot or stick our finger in the cocoon the silk threads are broken into hot water we are burnt, and that hurts. We small fragments. These fragmented threads get blisters and need a lot of love and care cannot be used to make silk yarns. to make the hurt feel better. Imagine your entire body put into an oven or in boiling water! We as Jains, believers of Ahimsä, have many more choices of what to wear. Clothes only cover our bodies; our inner beauty is of importance and what counts. Are we willing to take responsibility for all the four sensed beings killed just to wear one outfit? Pupas growing inside the cocoon To produce 100 grams of elegant silk yarn about 1,500 pupas have to be killed. Therefore, we can calculate how many pupas would have to be killed to obtain different silk products for human pleasure. Maybe 1,000; 2,000; 5,000; 10,000; or more. I am sure you have figured out the fate of the pupa inside the cocoon by now. Some people gather large numbers of cocoons in wooden baskets and put them in boiling water for a certain period. Can you guess what it feels like to be put in hot boiling water? Other people put the large baskets of cocoons in heat chambers for sometime. Silkworm pupas being boiled alive The choice is ours - whether we care or not for the pupas that have to be killed to make the silk. The more aware we are of the killing the more the karma becomes a part of our soul. We have a choice; the pupas do not! Then there are some people who just boil the pupas in simple pots. THE FIRST STEP OF JAINISM 121 ainelik Page #122 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONSCIOUS CONSUMER Varakh is silver foil used for decorating Indian sweets. But to prepare this Varakh some body parts of the cattle/ox are used. The process makes use of intestines of cattle or ox that are obtained from the slaughterhouse. This is obtained after killing the cattle/ox for beef - the parts of the cattle not consumed as meat have other uses. The intestines are pulled out of the animal and handed over to the manufacturers of Varakh. Before handing over the intestines, they are washed in the slaughterhouse to get Did you know? Silver is first pounded between layers of ox-gut and then used for decoration of a Tirthankar's murti and on Indian sweets! Varakh 122 rid of the blood and mucus in the limited facility that is present in the slaughterhouse. We are not sure how well they are cleaned. Intestines are cut into small pieces 9" x 10" and then are bound together like pages in a notebook. Silver pieces are placed in the middle of these bound intestines, and the whole thing is placed in a leather bag and sealed. Experts, who know how to make Varakh, hammer the bag with wooden sticks, till the entire bag flattens out. The silver piece would be flattened into silver foil. This Silver foil will be separated from the intestine pack and will be placed between pieces of paper. This is Varakh - ready for use. Even staunch vegetarians, who shy away from eggs, unknowingly consume this as a part of sweets, pän, supäri and fruits. Idols of Tirthankars are covered with varakh when they are adorned. The silver-topped sweets are even served as prasäd in temples and religious occasions. Some unknowingly consume this because of the additional taste that Varakh supposedly provides. - Now the question is "Why the intestines of the cattle/ox? Why not use something else?" The reason behind using the intestines of the cattle/ox for preparing Varakh is because of the elasticity of the intestines. They do not break or tear even after severe pounding!

believe in the body as the soul is that consciousness, the soul, arises or manifests from the elements that have transformed into the form of the body, and it is inseparable from them." This is the difference. ||11|| _Commentary - The author of the text presents the view of those who believe in the body as the soul as the opposing view. The view of those who believe in the body as the soul is that consciousness arises or manifests from the five elements that have transformed into the form of the body. Therefore, in each body, there is a separate soul. All souls exist in this form. Those who are children or ignorant, devoid of knowledge, and those who know the difference between good and bad, the wise, are all separate. One should not accept that there is one soul that pervades all. Accepting this would lead to the impossibility of distinguishing between the knowledgeable and the ignorant. ====================== | Romanization (original text) | ====================== - zrI sUtrakRtAGga sUtram AtmA eka ho-sarvavyApI ho to aisA nahIM bana pAyegA arthAt eka dvArA jAne hue ko dUsarA bhI sahaja hI jAna legA / patte kasiNe AyA, je bAlA je a paMDiyA / saMti piccA na te saMti, natthi sattovavAiyA // 11 // chAyA - pratyekaM kRtsnA AtmanaH ye bAlA ya ca paMDitAH / santi pretya na te santi, na santi sattvA aupapAtikAH // anuvAda - isa jagata meM jo bAla ajJAnI paMDita jo jJAnI hai-una jJAnI ajJAnI sabhI janoM kI AtmA pRthak-pRthak hai, eka nahI haiM / pretya bhAva-mRtyu ke anantara AtmA kA astittva nahIM rahatA aura sattvopapAtikAna prANiyoM kA punarjanma hI hotA hai-ve paralokagAmI nahIM hote-nahIM jAte / TIkA - sAmprataM tajjIvataccharIravAdimataM pUrvapakSayitumAha-tajjIvataccharIravAdinAmayamabhyu-pagamaH- yathA paMcabhyo bhUtebhyaH kAyAkAra pariNatebhyazcaitanyamutpadyate abhivyajyate vA tainaikaikaM zarIraM prati pratyeka mAtmAnaH 'kRtsnAH ' sarve'pyAtmAna evamavasthitAH, ye 'bAlA' ajJA ye 'paNDitAH' sadasadvivekajJAstesarve pRthagvayavasthitAH, nokaevAtmA sarva vyApitvenA'bhyupagantavyo, baalpNdditaadyvibhaagprsNgaat| nanu pratyeka zarIrAzrayatvenAtma bahutvamArhatAnAmapISTamevetyAzaGkayAha-'santi'vidyante yAvaccharIraM vidyante tadabhAve tu na vidyante, tathAhi kAyAkArapariNateSu bhUteSu caitanyAvirbhAvobhavati, bhUta samudAyavighaTane ca caitanyApagamo, na punaranyatra gacchaccaitanyamupalabhyate, ityetadeva darzayati-'piccA na te saMtIti' 'pretya' paraloke na te AtmAnaH 'santi' vidyante paralokAnuyAyI zarIrAdbhinnaH svakarmaphalabhoktA na kazcidAtmAkhyaH padArtho'stIti bhAvaH / kimityevamataAha-'natthi sattovavAiyA' 'asti' zabdastiGantapratirUpako nipAto bahuvacane draSTavyaH / tadayamartha:-'na santi' na vidyante 'sattvAH' prANina upapAtena nirvRttA aupapAtikAbhavAdbhavAntaragAmino na bhavantIti tAtparyyArthaH / tathAhi tadAgamaH-"vijJAnaghana evaitebhyo bhUtebhyaH samutthAya tAnyevAnuvinazyati na pretya sNjnyaa'stiiti"| nanu prAgupanyastabhUtavAdino'sya ca tajjIvataccharIravAdinaH ko vizeSa iti ? atrocyate, bhUtavAdino 'bhUtAnyeva kAyAkArapariNatAni dhAvanabalganAdikAM kriyAM kurvanti, asya t kAyAkArapariNatebhyo bhUtebhyazcaitanyAkhya Atmotpadyate'bhivyajyate vA tebhyazcAbhinna ityayaM vizeSaH // 11 // _TIkArtha - AgamakAra tacjIva taczarIravAda meM vizvAsa rakhane vAle saiddhAntikoM ko pUrva pakSa ke rUpa meM upasthita karate hue kahate haiM - tajjIvattazarIravAda darzana meM AsthA rakhane vAloM kA yaha abhimata hai ki deha ke rUpa meM pariNata pRthvI Adi pAMca mahAbhUtoM se cetanA zakti udbhUta hotI hai, yA abhivyakta hotI hai / ata: eka-eka zarIra meM, ekaeka AtmA pRthak-pRthak rUpa meM vidyamAna hai / sabhI AtmAeM isI rUpa meM avasthita haiM / jo bAla yA ajJa haiM, jJAnavarjita haiM tathA jo sat asat kA-zubhAzubha kA bheda jAnate haiM, jJAnI haiM, ve sabhI pRthak-pRthak hai / koI eka saba meM vyApta AtmA hai, aisA nahIM svIkAra karanA cAhiye / aisA svIkAra karane se jJAnayukta aura jJAna rahita kA bheda nahIM ho sakatA / Page #53 (AI-GENERATED, RESEARCH USE ONLY): --------------------------- ## Self-Time Statement of Authority Those who believe in the principles propounded by the Arhats, while accepting the principle of 'Atmabahutva' (plurality of souls), believe that each body has a separate soul. Why then do you present this doctrine? This doubt arises. It is said that as long as the body exists, so does the soul. When the body ceases to exist, the soul also ceases to exist, because consciousness arises from the five great elements transformed into the form of the body. When the community of the five elements disintegrates and becomes separate, consciousness is lost and destroyed. Consciousness does not become available or visible, separated from the body and going elsewhere. The Agamkaras are to show the view of the Tatchiva Tatcharirvadi theorists. Why is there no substance or element called soul separate from the body, which obtains Pretyabhava (afterlife), dies, goes to the other world, or takes rebirth and enjoys the fruits of its actions? Keeping this question in mind, it is said - Natthi

fire at the end of the world. Svayambhu blew Pañcajanya himself with a loud noise resembling a charm for the destruction of all enemies. Meraka's soldiers trembled at Päñcajanya's sound. Elephants do not linger when they have heard the lion's roar. Meraka made his own soldiers stand still, like cocks, mounted his chariot himself, and rushed against Svayambhu. Saying to each other, "Why should the armies fight uselessly?" carrying only bows, they twanged the bows. Making a wedding-pavilion for the Śri of victory, as it were, they both rained water in the form of arrows which hid the sun. They warded off each other's shower of arrows with a shower of arrows, like a fire by a fire, like poison by poison. The two appeared terrifying like two suns that had arisen with thousands of arrow-rays streaming forth. Both their hands, as they came and went between the quiver and bow, could not be seen (from speed), and were visible only from the gleam of their rings. The hands of both, quick-handed, falling now on the quiver, now on the bow-string, shone as if they had two forms. When he realized that the enemy was not to be conquered by arrows, Meraka rained weapons, clubs, etc., like mountainpeaks raised up by the wind at the end of the world. Svayambhu soon destroyed them by counter-weapons, like a poison-eyed snake 146 by terrifying flames from its eyes. Wishing to conquer the enemy in battle, Meraka recalled the cakra, and it fell into his hand like a falcon into that of a hunter. Then Meraka said to Svayambhu, "You have been made into a soldier only by myself fighting 102 145 136. See I, n. 136. 148 148. I.e., a Nāga. Page #132 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VIMALANĀTHACARITRA 103 for amusement. I will cut off your head. Go! Go now, villain! What shame is there to crows and robbers running away? Svayambhu said, "If such fighting is for amusement, then your fighting in anger must be seen. For I came for that. If heroes taking away enemies' wealth are robbers, then you are the first robber. Who gave it to you? If any running away is to be done after you have thrown the cakra, now you do the running. What shame is there to crows and robbers running away? Throw the cakra! Throw it! Let its strength be seen, so you, dying, will feel no regret.' دو So addressed, Meraka whirled the cakra terrifying with flames, like another Mars, in the air and hurled it at the enemy. It landed with a hard blow on Śarngapani's breast, like a cymbal on a cymbal. Dazed by a blow from the tip of the hub, Svayambhu fell on the floor of his chariot, his eyes tremulous like an intoxicated man's. Muśalin, devoted to his brother, with tears in his eyes, supported him on his lap, saying, "Breathe, breathe, dear brother." Sprinkled by his brother's tears, Särngabhṛt regained consciousness and stood up, saying to the enemy, "Wait! Wait!" After getting up and taking the cakra, like the wheel of fortune of enemies, Hari, watched with wide-open eyes by his men, said to Meraka, "This is your entire wealth of weapons and this is your duration of life. It has gone today, as you looked on, like the head-jewel of a snake. 147 By what support do you remain? Go! Go, now! Svayambhu does not kill enemies fleeing from battle." Meraka said, "Throw it. Do you also see its strength. How could one who did not become the wife of the lord, become the wife of a petty lord?" 147 162. Crooke (p. 390) says that if any one obtains the snakejewel, the snake dies. On the other hand, in Ceylon it is believed that misfortune follows the killing of the snake to obtain it, according to Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 316. Page #133 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 104 CHAPTER THREE So addressed, Särngabhrt whirled the cakra, threw it, and easily cut off the lotus-head of Meraka. A rain of flowers fell from the sky on Svayambhū and likewise Meraka's torso fell on the ground. The kings who were adherents of Meraka at once resorted to Svayambhū. There was the same procession of the friends of the bridegroom, but the groom was the other one. 148 Then keeping on his right the cakra, which was victorious over the circle of the quarters, 149 he conquered the southern half of Bharata. Svayambhū, the abode of the Śrī of Victory, returned from the expedition of conquest, sporting at will with the Śrī of half of Bharata like a new wife. As he went along the road in the Magadhas, Sārngapaņi saw a rock being lifted by a crore of men, like a concave cover of the earth. Adhoksaja lifted it with his left arm easily, like the lord of serpents (Sesanāga) supporting the earth. After depositing the rock right there, instilling wonder in the powerful, Hari went in a few days to the city Dvāravati. There Svayambhū's installation as ardhacakrin was held by Rudra, Bhadra, and other kings with a festival. Vimala's omniscience (174-177) Now, after Lord Vimala had wandered two years as

sum up these five colours, five tastes, two smells and eight touches as the more obvious characteristics of lifeless matter. None of these twenty is found to characterise Consciousness, or pure life. Of course when life is mixed with non-living matter, it assumes all these distinctions of colour, taste, smell, and touch. Thus embodied consciousness does have colour, taste, etc. Soul is not matter. Byron rightly said that is the matter; never mind him, what is the mind, no matter. By "mind” we must mean the taking Ego, the soul. This point is radical and deserves a little more consideration. Above we have seen vitalities, attention, conation, knowledge, doing and enjoying, and co-extension with the body as the observed characteristics of the living substance. Here we may pause for a moment to consider these characteristics also. They were all derived from our observation of a dead corpse and a living reader of these words. In the corpse, we simply noted the absence of the living and thus indirectly inferred that what was absent, belonged to and was taken away by the living substance when it left the corpse lifeless. The living reader gave us mostly the psychic stages of conation and knowledge. But in all these we are not able to study or observe Indeed it must be confessed frankly that there is absolutely no means at present of our studying life or soul directly and fully in its pure condition, without any admixture of matter in it. We are in the world. There is no pure soul in this world of ours. All are embodied or mundane souls. In studying them, except in abstract thought, we cannot separate the living soul from its sheath of non-living matter, i.e. the body. But the living embodied soul also can exhibit in the world such a high degree of manifestation of pure life and independence of non-living matter, that we can form a very near idea, of a pure perfect soul. As we approach that idea we find that vitalities, and responsibility for doing and enjoying shrink more and more; and that conation and knowledge correspondingly increase in purity, extent, depth and fineness. From this it is justifiable to conclude that the ultimate idea of a perfect soul, i.e. the ideal soul will be identical with an individual consciousness which has perfect conation and perfect knowledge, with their attendant perfect power and perfect bliss. Also that this stage must mean total separation or liberation from matter. Thus alone from a consideration of the obvious categories of the living substance and non-living substance, gradually and after very deep, persistent, patient, difficult, and long study Page #136 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 124 An Epitome of Jainism and contemplation, we can arrive at a conception of a Pure Soul, the Highest Self, the Ideal, God, or whatever other name you like, Living substance rises higher and higher towards the condition of matter. less living, and ultimately, when perfectly rid of matter, it attains an eternal condition of Pure Light in Self-Absorption and by nature ascends upwards to the top of universe. There is no turning back, and no further bondage with matter, and no transmigrations. Its modifications there consist of its own perpetual selfmodification. It has perfect conation and perfect knowledge. It is itself. It is liberated. It is Pure Soul. But excepting this condition of absolute purity, the soul's own pure qualities are effected by those of matter. So we find that attention, conation and knowledge, which are pure consciousness or its modifications, are observed in a mundane or embodied soul, to exist along with vitalities, and the size of the body, and are responsible for sowing and reaping the fruit of action, which are the characteristics of the living being united with the non-living matter and with touch, taste, smell and colour, the pure characteristics of non-living matter. The whole picturesque and endless variety of life,-physical, mental and emotional life in the universe, is the effect and summation of infinite ways in which the Living unites with the Non-living. Let us try to consider this glorious wealth of variegated life of souls in the universe; The whole universe is packed full of living creatures. Indeed in such out-of-the-way and unexpected places, does our knowing intelligence light upon life, hat some Great Intellects have gone to the length of saying that all is Life and there is no lifeless matter at all. This of course is easily refuted by common everyday universal observation. In comprehending the almost incomprehensible vastnesses of space and time and their contents, let us keep a cool and dispassionate head lest in our admiration of one or other of the several constituents of the universe, we should deny one or more and thus cripple our further and full knowledge of the whole truth of things. ndeed the checking of our premises and first conclusions again and again is absolutely essential if

lays somewhere between 300 to 600 eggs. Once the eggs are laid, the silk moth usually dies. The eggs are held in cold storage for some time. In the early parts of each spring these eggs are put into incubators. An incubator is a hot chamber, maintained at a certain temperature, suitable for the growth and subsequent hatching of the eggs. After 20 days of incubation, these eggs hatch and tiny silkworms emerge. They are about 1⁄2 inch in the beginning. The worms are kept in very clean trays. These silkworms have very large appetites. They are fed fresh mulberry leaves and these tiny worms grow into fat worms about three inches long and one inch thick. To get these mulberry leaves for the worms the farmers grow them for this specific purpose. These worms look very adorable. The worms are put in baskets filled with mulberry leaves. They eat continuously and grow fat. Compendium of Jainism - 2015 Page 177 of 398 Page #178 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONDUCT C08 - Application of Nonviolence When they stop growing, they are transferred to different wooden baskets with spiral compartments filled with stems of straws and twigs. Here, the worms have very little space to move. To attach themselves to the twigs, the worms spin a web. While moving around, the worms secrete a gum-like fluid that hardens the silk threads together. After spinning for about 3 days, a cocoon formation is completed around the worm. Now the worms change into a pupa that lives inside the cocoon. They mature until they become moths which can emerge out of the cocoon. If the pupas were allowed to have their natural life, they would grow inside the cocoon to a silk moth in about 3 weeks. However, they are not allowed to reach this stage because when the worms break the cocoon, the silk threads are broken into small fragments. These fragmented threads cannot be used to make silk yarns. To produce 100 grams of elegant silk yarn, about 1, 500 pupas have to be killed. Therefore, we can calculate how many pupas would have to be killed to obtain different silk products for human pleasure- maybe 1,000; 2, 000; 5, 000; 10,000; or more! Some people gather large numbers of cocoons in wooden baskets and put them in boiling water for a certain period of time. Other people put the large baskets of cocoons in heat chambers for some time. Silkworm pupas have to die so humans can wear silk. This is not the end of story of the silk moth. To harvest healthy moths and to preserve high quality of silk threads, the moths have to go through different types of treatments in labs. If we touch a hot pot or stick our finger in hot water, it hurts. We get blisters and need a lot of love and care to make the hurt feel better. Imagine your entire body being put into an oven or in boiling water! We Jains, believers of Ahimsä, have many more choices of what to wear. Clothes only cover our bodies; our inner beauty is of importance and what counts. Are we willing to take responsibility for all the four-sensed beings killed just to wear one outfit? The choice is ours: whether we care or not for the pupas that have to be killed to make silk. The more aware we are of the violence involved and the more we choose to ignore it, the more the karma becomes a part of our soul. We have a choice; the pupas do not! Varakh Varakh is silver foil used for decorating Indian sweets. But to prepare this Varakh some body parts of cattle/ox are used. The process makes use of intestines of cattle or ox that are obtained from the slaughterhouse. This is obtained after killing the cattle/ox for beef. The intestines are pulled out of the animal and handed over to the manufacturers of Varakh. Before handing over the intestines, they are washed in the slaughterhouse to get rid of the blood and mucus in the limited facility that is present in the slaughterhouse. We are not sure how well they are cleaned. Intestines are cut into small pieces and bound together like pages in a notebook. Silver pieces are placed in the middle of these bound intestines, and the whole thing is placed in a leather bag and sealed. Experts, who know how to make Varakh, hammer the bag with wooden sticks until the entire bag flattens out. The silver piece would be flattened into silver foil. This silver foil is separated from the intestine pack and placed between pieces of paper. This is Varakh - ready for use. Even staunch vegetarians, who shy away from eggs, unknowingly consume this as a part of sweets, pän, supäri, and fruits. Idols of Tirthankars are covered with varakh when they are adorned. The silver-topped sweets are even served as prasäd in temples and religious occasions. Some unknowingly consume this because of the additional taste that Varakh supposedly provides. Now the question is "Why the intestines of the cattle/ox? Why not use something else?" The reason behind using the intestines of the cattle/ox for preparing Varakh is because of the elasticity of