Historical Perspective of Samvatsari Day and Jain Calendar

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

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If the monks cannot find a suitable place by Ashädh Sud 15 then they may continue to travel to find a suitable place for up to 50 days (this may be called as a grace period). However they must find a place and settle during this time period and then do Samvatsari Pratikraman.
Even if they do not find a suitable place during the grace period of 50 days, they must still do the Samvatsari Pratikraman under a tree in a jungle on the 50th day but not violate the 50 day limit for Samvatsari Pratikraman (ref - Jain Ägams - Samaväyänga and Nishitha Sutras). The 50th day from Ashädh Sud 15 falls on Bhadarva Sud 5.
Since Bhädarvä Sud 5 was the last day for Samvatsari Pratikraman, it seems that to keep Jain the community united and properly organized, probably around the 7th to 10th century time Jain Ächäryas may have decided to do Samvatsari Pratikraman only on Bhadarva Sud 5 instead of earlier as indicated in the Jain Agamic literature.
Before that one may conclude from the ancient literature that the monks may be doing Samvatsari Pratikraman any time between Ashädh Sud 15 and Bhadarva Sud 5 and the common people just joined with the monks on that day for the Samvatsari Pratikraman.
Change of Samvatsari Day from Bhadarva Sud 5 to 4:
Ancient Jain literature (ref - Nishitha Bhäsya Churni and Kalpa Sutra Tikä) indicates the following story as the primary reason for changing the Samvatsari day from Bhadarva Sud 5 to 4 by the Shvetämbar Jain Murtipujak Tapa-gachchha sect which is about 70% of the total Jain population. As the king of Ujjayini was the enemy of the Jain religion, Jain Ächärya Kälak had to migrate immediately from the town of Ujjayin after his arrival, to find a suitable place to stay for the rainy season. The Ächärya left the town and traveled during the beginning days of the rainy season. He may have arrived at the town of Pratisthanpur near the end of the 50 days which is close to Bhadarva Shud 5.
After reaching Pratisthanpur, he decided to do Samvatsari Pratikraman on Bhadarva Sud 5. The king Satavahan of Pratisthanpur, who was a Jain king, informed the Ächärya that the whole town would be celebrating a major social event known as Indra-Mahotsav on Bhadarva Sud 5 and therefore he may not be able to join for the Samvatsari Pratikraman. He requested the Ächärya to do Samvatsari Pratikraman on the next day which was Bhadarva Sud 6.
The Ächärya indicated that the monks must do annual Pratikraman by Bhadarva Sud 5. So to accommodate the king's request he changed the Samvatsari Pratikraman Tithi to Bhadarva Sud 4 (one day earlier) for that year and the King agreed to join on that day.
We do not have any knowledge of what happened in the following year as to whether the Jain community continued to do Samvatsari on Bhadarva Shud 4 or on 5. Some literature indicates that Ächärya Kälak may have died before the next Samvatsari day.
However, later on (I could not find any documented record) the Shvetämbar Murtipujak Jain community (Tapa-gachchha sect) started doing Samvatsari Pratikraman on Bhadarva Sud 4.
They provide one reason - Since we have done Pratikraman one day earlier in the past, we need to continue that way and can not go back because Samvatsari Pratikraman must be done within a year but not one year + one day (I cannot find this rule in ancient Jain scripture).
New Problem Surfaced due to the Change of Samvatsari Day
The original Samvatsari Tithi of Bhadarva Sud 5 is a Parva Tithi (pious day). Now the new Tithi - Bhadarva Sud 4- which was not a Parva Tithi before became an additional Parva Tithi only for the month of Bhädarvä. For all other months, shud 4 remained an ordinary Tithi. Hence the following situations may occur in some future Jain calendar year.
⚫ If in a particular year, Bhadarva Sud 5 becomes a Vriddhi (double) Tithi in the Jodhapur Hindu calendar, then in the Jain calendar Bhadarva Sud 4 can not become a Vriddhi Tithi because it is now a Parva Tithi (new Samvatsari day). We need to make Bhadarva Sud
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