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PREFACE
speaking community in the Western world. Hence it is our humble attempt to bring together a simple and more comprehensible Pratikraman ritual for them. In this ritual, we have maintained the traditional flavor of the original sutras along with their essence and meaning. For English speakers, the Sutras may be difficult to pronounce without due practice. However after understanding the purpose and meaning of the Pratikraman, one can either recite sutras or the explanation of sutras. It should be noted, however, that reciting the original sutras generates internal spiritual vibrations that the English translation cannot.
The sources of this ritual are the various English Pratikraman books and references compiled by several authors; Dr. Surendra Singhvi of Ohio, Dr. Manubhai Doshi of Chicago, Dr. Mukesh Doshi and Dr. Pradip and Darshana Shah of Jain Center of Chicago, Mr. Harendra Shah of Jain Center of Northern California, and Mr. Narendra Sheth of San Diego, Late Dr. Nagin J. Shah, of Ahmedabad and Late Dr. Madhuben Sen of Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad. We continually update this ritual as we receive feedback from various Jain scholars and youth of North America. We are grateful to Pujya Acharya Shri Nandighoshsuri M.S. Pujya Acharya Shri Ajaysagarji M.S. and Shri Pundit Dhirajlal D. Mehta of Surat-India for their guidance with regards to the traditional Pratikraman ritual that helped us to compile this book.
We are very thankful to Kavita Shah Bafana of New Jersey, Mukesh Chhajer of Raleigh, Shilpa Shah of Atlanta, Darshana Shah of Chicago, Rekha Banker of Raleigh, Mayur and Rita Lodaya of Chapel Hill, Hetali Lodaya of Chapel Hill, Sudhir Shah of Connecticut and Samuel Wallace of Raleigh, for editing and reviewing various aspects of this book. We are not Jain scholars but we learn and teach Jainism to the Päthashälä students of North America. We seek forgiveness for any mistakes, oversights, understatements, or overstatements in the material presented here. We request you to use the material objectively and provide positive suggestions so that we can incorporate them into future revisions.
Pravin K. Shah JAINA Education Committee Federation of Jain Associations in North America
ENGLISH PRATIKRAMAN