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Samvatsari Pratikramana
fasting) and if one has accepted the vows for all days at once, (i.e. accepting the vow for 2 days of fast on the first day itself instead of taking a vow on the first day, then again on the second day) then on the second day of fasting before drinking water one should certainly accept the vow of 'panahar porisi'. If one has accepted the vow of chauivihar upvas (i.e. fasting with no food and no water) then that evening under the witness of Lord and Guru one should again accept the vows of chauvihar upvas without mentioning the exception of paritthavaniyagarenam. Even if one has accepted the vows for multiple days of fasting at once (i.e. on the first day itself), one does not get the benefit of fasting on the remaining days without accepting the vows again on those days. All morning vows (i.e. navkarshi to saadh porisi) should be accepted before drinking water.
Nowadays because of lack of knowledge or due to undue comparisons it is popular to rinse the mouth or brush the teeth or drink some water immediately after relieving the vows such as Navkarshi-however this is not appropriate. First, it is important to insist on following the right procedure to relieve the vows. If it is absolutely not possible to follow such procedure, relieving the vows by reciting the Navkar mantra thrice while holding the hand in a fist is prevalent these days.
Just like the vow of Navkarshi is relieved 48 minutes after sunrise, it was popular amongst the followers of Jain tradition to give up all food and drinks (including water) 48 minutes prior to sunset and accept the vow of Chauvihar. Even today, there is a section of the Jain population including Jain sadhus, sadhvis and laymen/women who follow this practice and it is certainly worth emulating.
