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RITUALS
DO7 - Jain Festivals (Parvas) and Celebrations
The holy regions where Tirthankars Kalyanaks took place are now pilgrimage places. Tirthankars
are supreme human beings and our faultless human models in whom we take spiritual refuge. 02 Paryushan Mahä Parva This is the holiest festival of the year and is an eight day period of fasting, complex rituals, review of Jain principles, and prayers for forgiveness from all living beings. The festival falls around August-September. Paryushan Parva is a time to reflect and repent for our undesirable activities of previous year. It is a period to observe austerities to shed accumulated karma. Observing austerities helps control our desires for material pleasures, which make it an important element of spiritual training. Paryushan Parva consists of eight days per Shvetämbar tradition and ten days per Digambar tradition. It starts on twelfth or thirteenth day of the dark half of the month Shrävan and ends on the fourth day of the bright half of the month of Bhädarvo per Hindu calendar. Paryushan usually falls during the month of August or September. The month of Shrävan is in the monsoon season. Jain monks and nuns do not stay at one place more than a few days during non-rainy season. Monsoon showers and torrential rains, however make it impossible for the monks to travel across the country. This coupled with the principle of Ahimsa or nonviolence, make it difficult for them not to trample upon and hurt insects and other forms of life that are abundant in the monsoon. According to Jain scriptures, the last day of Paryushan Parva known as Samvatsari should be celebrated on 50 th day of the monsoon season. Monks and nuns must settle during this time and remain at that place for the remaining monsoon season of next 70 days. During Paryushan, most temples hold regular ceremonies in their prayer rooms and meditation halls. During the first three days of Paryushan, Sädhus and Sadhvis deliver sermons related to the five essential activities that Shrävaks and Shrävikäs are required to do during Paryushan. These five essential activities are:
Amäri Pravartan: Leading a non-violent life and working towards a non-violent world; Sädharmik Vätsalya: Respecting fellow beings who follow the Jain philosophy Attham Tapa: Fasting for three consecutive days Chaitya Paripäti: Going in groups to different Jain temples for Darshan; and
Kshamäpana: Doing the Pratikraman asking for forgiveness. On the fourth day of Paryushan, a ceremonious reverence is given to the Kalpa Sutra. The Kalpa Sutra is a holy scripture that includes a detailed account of Bhagawan Mahävir's life. The Kalpa Sutra is read to the congregation from the fourth through the last day of Paryushan. On the fifth day, the auspicious dreams of Bhagawan Mahävir's mother Trishala are celebrated in a special ceremony. Kalpa Sutra
Traditionally most revered scripture for Shvetämbar is Kalpa-sutra, taken from the eighth chapter of the Anga-bähya Agam Dashä-shruta Skandha and is read during fourth to eighth day of Paryushan. Kalpa means an activity, which enhances religious knowledge, conduct and self-control. Kalpa-sutra describes rules for monastic life during rainy season, biography of Tirthankars, and a lineage of successors to the Ganadhars. Acharya Bhadrabähu composed these three chapters in ArdhaMagadhi language, collectively called Kalpa-sutra in 3rd century B.C. and it has 1216 verses. It was written (penned down) for the first time on palm-leaf during Vallabhipur Agam Literature Conference (recension) in 454 A.D. Traditionally it was recited only among Sädhus during Paryushan. However, the Kalpa-sutra has been recited in public for over 1500 years, ever since Devardhi-gani recited it to King Dhruvsen of Vallabhi to relieve the king's grief over the death of his son. In 1879, a German scholar named Herman Jacobi translated and printed the Kalpa-sutra for the first time. It has a very detailed and lively description of Bhagawan Mahävir's life as well as narration of His previous 27 lives. Poetic depiction of the dreams of mother Trishalä, celebration of the birth of Tirthankar Mahavir, few incidents of His childhood, procession for Dikshä, the account of the calamities endured by Him during the monastic life, and the elucidation of Keval-jnän and Nirvana creates a live picture in listener's mind and builds an atmosphere of reverence. Lives of Tirthankar Compendium of Jainism - 2015
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