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| Samani Param Pragyaji | Samani Punya Pragyaji |
Jain Festival Paryushan Mahaparva
- Paryushan is the great festival of inner healing.
- Paryushan is the great festival of forgiveness.
- Paryushan is the great festival of non-violence.
- Paryushan is the great festival of self-observation.
- Paryushan is the great festival of spiritual upliftment.
- Paryushan is the great festival of spiritual friendship.
- Paryushan is the great festival of penance.
- Paryushan is the great festival of Jain Unity.
Paryushan Parva is a spiritual-oriented festival not a material-oriented one. This festival consists of eight days. It is an opportunity to fulfilling oneself with higher spiritual feelings to create global peace and harmony. The very idea of this festival is that if in any part of our life we feel a lack of any quality this is the good time to re-cultivate that quality in our life. We can say this is the time to shape our life in the direction of peace and harmony besides comfortable and fulfilling relationships. The required changing area of your life may be such as…
- Farewell to hostility, welcome to forgiveness
- Farewell to unkindness, welcome to compassion
- Farewell to ego, welcome to appreciation
- Farewell to greediness, welcome to out flowing
The real purpose of Paryushan is to purify our soul by staying closer to our own soul, to look at our own faults, to ask for forgiveness for the mistakes we have committed knowingly or unknowingly, and apply vows to destroy karmas. The main cause of all sorrows and sufferings is impurity of soul. In this period each and every individual tries to purify his soul through different spiritual practices. Some main objectives to celebrating this festival are.
- To discipline passions
- To control senses
- To take a lot at mistakes done in the past
- To make auspicious will for the bright future
- To switch from a negative to a positive way of life.
How to Celebrate Eight-Days of Paryushan
| First Day | Samayik day | Practice samayik and be harmonious in each situation |
| Second Day | Aaharsanyam day | Reduce varieties in a mean controlling craving for food. |
| Third Day | Swadhyaya day | Go through spiritual study and see yourself |
| Fourth Day | Restrain speech day | Practice silence for few hours and choose words carefully during speech. |
| Fifth Day | Jap day | Energize yourself through navkar mantra |
| Sixth Day | Meditation | Purify soul by breathing meditation |
| Seventh Day | Anuvrat day | Practice twelve vows for the laymen. |
| Eighth Day | Samvatsari day | Give and receive forgiveness through the heart |
Samvatsari – A Day of Forgiveness
The final day of Paryushan, called Samvatsari, is the most important of all. In other words, all other days are the preparation for this day. The great message of this auspicious festival is giving and receiving forgiveness. Forgiveness benefits both the forgiver and the forgiven without a doubt. According to the many researches un-forgiveness is the root cause of many diseases. A forgiver maintains his optimum health, mental peace, fulfilling relationships, good financial conditions by forgiveness. We can say this is the festival to free one of all problems.
This is the day when Jains perform Samvatsari Pratikraman and ask for forgiveness to family, friends, and foes alike for any wrongful acts they might have committed towards them during the year. Therefore this annual opportunity of repentance and forgiveness is very important. We can not change the past but we can change our feelings towards the past. The process of shedding our karmas really begins by asking for forgiveness with true feelings. The request for forgiveness requires humility and elimination of hatred. Anger is the greatest enemy of the soul and it is the root of all evils Real forgiveness comes from within, without any feelings of reward...
Meatri Mantra
Khamemi savva Jiva, savve Jiva Khamantu Me,
Metti me savva Bhuesu, Veram Majjham na Kenai.
I forgive all the living beings of the universe.
May all the living-beings forgive me for my faults.
I do not have any animosity towards anybody.
I have friendship for all living beings.