$JES 921 Book of Compassion Reverence For All Life Reference Book

Author(s): Pramoda Chitrabhanu, Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 51

9-STORY OF SILK
Pramoda Chitrabhanu Jain Meditation International Center, New York
09-Story of Silk
How many people know that the silk one wears or uses involves violence but one wears it with great pride in the places of worship? It is sad that one follows tradition blindly without questioning the origination or it's making process.
It all started around 1133 AD at the time of King Kumärpäl, the King of Gujarat, a state in Western India. During his rule he was greatly influenced by a great Jain teacher Ächärya Hemchandra. The King was so inspired by his teachings of Ahimsä (nonviolence) and Compassion that he declared in his entire state to stop killing for food, sport or fun.
It is said that he was further inspired by the saint to lead a religious life and perform pujä (a symbolic worship to an idol in the temple) every day to show his devotion to Lord Mahävir. The King decided to wear the best and most expensive new clothes to perform the puja and so he ordered the best of the material to be obtained. His men went and purchased the costliest, finest and softest material from China for their King. At that time, the King did not know that the material purchased for him was imported silk made from killing silkworms, which involved sheer violence. If he knew that he would not have used silk for pujä. But since then the tradition continues. Unfortunately, even today people wear silk clothes in religious rituals justifying that King Kumärpäl used it.
It is time one wakes up to the fact and knows the true story of silk. Beauty Without Cruelty organization in India has done a great work in this field and brought to light the cruelty involved in making silk.
Soft, smooth and shimmering silk is perhaps the most attractive textile ever created. More than two thousand years ago, this beautiful fabric was imported from China known as "Chinanshuk" in Sanskrit language. The method and source or its production was a very highly guarded secret - may be because it involved the killing of millions of lives.
The filament of silk is what a silkworm spins for its cocoon. The cocoon is constructed as its shell to protect itself during its cycle of growth from caterpillar to chrysalis to moth.
THE BOOK OF COMPASSION
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