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The use of varak in Jain temple cannot be justified on any grounds. By its use we are wrapping the holy and sacred Jain pratimas (idols) with meat and blood and destroying the sanctity of the pratimas. I ask, why? When will we wake up? Contrary to many claims in India, to the best of my knowledge, no, and I repeat —no silver varak is made by machines and without the use of leather skins in the process. All processes involve animal parts. A Personal Account: In India hardly any sweet is available anymore without silver varak. Many years ago, I took a vow not to eat, buy, accept, or offer to others anything containing silver varak. I know it is a little inconvenient to find shops that sell sweets without varak but I will not buy anything else. I talk about this choice all the time in India amongst my relatives and some look at me and think I am crazy and ignore me no matter how much I say. Still, I have been successful in convincing a few who have stopped its use, but this number is very small. I find the use of varak-covered sweets very prevalent in Jain homes. About ten years ago, I attended a Jain wedding of a close relative of mine in India. At the end of the ceremony, the father of the bride offered me a box of some sweets. The box was fully covered with packaging so I could not see what was inside. I asked the host if the box had any silver covered sweets (which I suspected). The host said yes. In spite of my telling him that I would not touch any varak covered sweets; he kept on insisting and forced the box in my lap. As soon as he was gone, I went inside the storage room where hundreds of such boxes were stored and deposited my box there. He saw me doing this and came to me to tell me that it was rude and insulting on my part that I did so. Very politely I explained to him that I am sorry, but that I had no use for it except to throw it into the garbage—which I didn't want to do, but he would not understand.
An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
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