Jain Spirit 2003 06 No 15

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 46

WORSHIP
bainow and struts
T
FORGIVENESS, LIGHT
BAND LIBERATION
Padmanabh Jaini continues his survey of key Jain festivals
To
Paryusana-Parva/Dasa-Laksana-Parva (August) Paryusana, which means 'passing the rainy season', is dedicated to the cultivation of certain religious practices of a relatively long duration. Jain monks and nuns, unlike their counterparts in other religions, do not have permanent abodes in the form of monasteries and nunneries; they are obliged by law to stay only a few days or weeks at a time in any one place. During the four months of the rainy season (caturmasa), however, they are required to choose a fixed place of residence and spend their time within the boundary of that village or town. The presence of nuns and monks (who must always live separately and in groups of a minimum of three persons) during the rainy season thus affords great opportunities for the lay devotees to undertake a variety of religious practices. The elders in the Jain community plan for this occasion a year in advance by inviting a particular group of monks or nuns to come to their town. Since Jain mendicants must travel by foot, they set out on their journey early enough that they may arrive before the onset of the rainy season, which officially begins on the fourteenth day of the waxing moon of Asadha (June/July). On that day, laypeople visit the mendicant teachers and resolve to lead temporarily a life of restraint. This may include dietary restrictions (such as not eating certain kinds of foods or not eating at night time), sitting in meditation in a regular manner every day or the study of a particular scripture.
Participation in these religious observances becomes more intense during the week-long celebration of the Paryusana-parva. For the Shvetambaras, this begins on the twelfth day of the waning moon of Sravana (August) and ends on the fourth day of the waxing moon of Bhadrapada. The Digambaras celebrate the same festival a week later, for ten days.
During these eight or ten days many members, young or old, of the Jain community observe some form of restraint regarding food. Some may eat only once a day or fast completely on the first and last days, others refrain from eating and drinking (except for boiled water) for the entire week. These latter spend most of their time in temples or monasteries in the company of monks. All participants attempt in these various ways to emulate the life of a mendicant for however short a time, detaching themselves from worldly affairs and leading a meditative life. Each day monks and nuns give sermons, placing special emphasis on
44 Jain Spirit June-August 2003
the life and teachings of Mahavir. For a second time the Shvetambaras celebrate the birth of Mahavir by reading the Kalpasutra in public, thus rededicating themselves to his ideals.
The Digambaras refer to the festival of Paryusana-parva also by the name of Dasa-laksana-parva, the Festival of Ten Virtues: forgiveness, humility, honesty, purity, truthfulness, self-restraint, asceticism, study, detachment and celibacy. They dedicate each day of the festival to one of the virtues.
The celebration of Paryusana-parva comes to a climax on the last day, when Jains of all sects perform the annual ceremony of confession, samvatsari-pratikraman. This is the holiest day of the year for the Jains, who take leave from work or school on this occasion to participate in the activities. On the evening of this day, when almost all participants have fasted, Jains assemble in their local temples and in the presence of their mendicant teachers they confess their transgressions by uttering the words Michchami Dukadam (may all my transgressions be forgiven). They then exchange pleas for forgiveness with their relatives and friends. Finally they extend their friendship and goodwill to all beings in the following words:
"I ask pardon of all living creatures;
May all of them pardon me.
May I have a friendly relationship with all beings, And unfriendly with none."
Vira-Nirvana (November)
The festival of Vira-Nirvana, the anniversary of the death of Mahavir, occurs on the fifteenth day of the waning moon of Asvina. In the year 527 BC on this night Mahavir, at the age of 72, entered Nirvana, the state of immortality, the freedom forever from the cycle of birth and death, in a place called Pavapuri, near modern Patna. Towards dawn, his chief apostle (ganadhara) Indrabhuti Gautama, a monk of longstanding, is said to have attained enlightenment (kevalajnana), the supreme goal of a Jain mendicant. Tradition has it that Mahavir's eighteen contemporary kings celebrated both these auspicious events by lighting rows of lamps. This act of 'illumination' is claimed by the Jains as the true origin of Divali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, which falls on the same day. The Hindus, of course, have a different legend associated with Divali and their festival probably antedates Mahavir's Nirvana.