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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 the life and teachings of Mahavira. For a second time the Shvetambaras celebrate the birth of Mahavira by reading the Kalpasutra in public, thus rededicating themselves to his ideals.
The Digambaras refer to the festival of Paryushana-parva also by the name Dasha-lakshana-parva, or 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 Paryushana-parva comes to a climax on the last day, when Jainas of all sects perform the annual ceremony of confession, Samvatsari-pratikramana. This is the holiest day of the year for the Jainas, who take leave from work or school on this occasion to participate in the activities. On the evening of this day (on which almost all participants have fasted) Jainas assemble in their local Hemples, and, in the presence of their mendicant teachers, they confess their transgressions by uttering the words miccha me dukkadam (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, or the anniversary of the death of Mahavira, occurs on the fifteenth day of the waning moon of Ashvina. On this night in the year 527 BCE Mahavira, at the age of 72, entered nirvana (the state of immortality that is freedom forever from the cycle of birth and death), in a place called Pavapuri, near modern Patna. Towards the dawn, his chief apostle (ganadhara) Indrabhuti Gautama, a monk of long-standing, is said to have attained to enlightenment (kevalajnann), the supreme goal of a Jaina mendicant. Tradition has it that Mahavira's eighteen contemporary kings celebrated both these auspicious events by lighting rows of lamps. This act of 'illumination' is claimed by the Jainas 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 Mahavira's nirvana.
Devout Jaina lay people observe Vira-nirvana by undertaking a Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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