Disclaimer : Following is about what I have personally understood about Paryushan and is an exclusively personal comment, based on personal experience only……
My first encounter with Paryushan happened around 20 years back. I was staying in Mumbai and had a handful of Jain clients, who were on focused weight loss diets. Protein rich and Carbohydrate Restricted diets were trending and quite in fashion…..
As a Diet Consultant, my philosophy has always revolved around being Mindful of What, When, How and How often you eat. Educating a client to make his/her food choices is always Liberating. Eating consciously and being answerable to yourself almost always brings about the required, positive changes in the Lifestyle.
On the other hand, Jains follow the most rigorous form of spiritually motivated Diet and are complete lacto-vegetarians…. The normal food restrictions “Peak out” at the time of Paryushan.
I used to literally have a really hard time convincing my clients that, if done in the right way, this period of Festivities can be converted into a good opportunity to actually have desirable effects.
Following are some interesting facts about
पर्युषण - खमत खामणा - मिच्छामी दुक्कडं
The Jain community celebrates Paryushan Parva each year for self-purification and spiritual development.
Paryushan typically means 8 or 10 days of rigorous prayer and fasting…. The Digambar Jains celebrate it for 10 days & the Shwetambar Jains observe it for 8 days.
This festival focuses on self-analysis, deep introspection, mental and physical purification and Abstinence of materialism for a possible attainment of Nirvana.
Food Abstinence and Fasting, Self-Study, Reading Religious books and Chanting Verses, Samayika- the vow of periodic concentration, Restraint on speaking, Pledging to refrain from bodily pleasures and Meditating are some of the activities the Jains follow.
Most significant day of this festival is the Samvatsari Mahaparva. Fasting for the whole day is a must and even small children participate with vigour.
A notable fact - The festival of Paryushan ends on Bhadrapad shuddha Chaturthi, which is Shri Ganesh Chaturthi according to the Hindu Calender and is the first day of the Ganeshotsav. Ganeshotsav is one of the most loved festival of Maharashtra. Interestingly, the “पंच खाद्य” naivedya that we offer to the lord Ganesh, can be very easily incorporated in the Jain Paryushan diet.
“पंच खाद्य” is an absolutely “nutrient dense” combination which will help our Jain friends in maintaining their fasts and inclusion of this “पंच खाद्य” would be an interesting as well as a healthy way of adopting and adapting to become a more colorful and homogeneous lot. (Sharing pics of homemade “पंच खाद्य” I made today)
The last and and most important day or Paryushan parva is when everyone actively seeks Forgiveness.
Acceptance of one's deeds, and, knowingly and consciously asking for forgiveness from those whom you may have wronged, can be the most liberating thing one can do in a lifetime.
“खमत खामणा” - Literally means,Please DO forgive me for anything i may have done to hurt you”
and
“मिच्छामी दुक्कडं” - is probably an aberration of the Sanskrit phrase, “मिथ्या मे दुष्कृतं”, which means, (I pray) that all my misdoings and bad deeds be erased /nullified/ and-or be void.
Over the years, my practice and learnings from Yoga have further helped me in understanding what may have been the ultimate basis of this ritual…. And with each passing year I have come to revere the entire process even more…
The Introspection, Self Analysis and Soul-searching aspects of Paryushan can be adopted by each one of us. Irrespective to one’s religion, caste, tribe or sex, “खमत खामणा “ and “ मिच्छामी दुक्कडं” are phrases we all should ideally carve in our minds and inculcate in our awareness to help us evolve into better human beings…..
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