Paryushan: Importance of Ayambil Aradhana

What is Paryushan?

Paryushan is the most significant and auspicious annual Jain festival. It is a holy event that is to celebrate the spiritual awareness of souls. This event is celebrated during August or September whenever the Hindi calendar begins around the Shravan Vad 12th or 13th and ends on Bhadarva Sud 4th or 5th. It is believed to be a holy event that lasts around eight days and is celebrated to increase spiritual intensity through the help of fasting and meditation. During this time, Jain people try to implement self-discipline and penance to purify their souls to the best of their capacities. However, the word Paryushan has several meanings; it can be separated as Pari and Ushan, which means all kinds and burn. It signifies the shedding of all karma. Ushan can also mean staying closer, which in turn means staying closer to the soul. The word is also said to have a different origin, Pari and Upshamana. Upshamana means to suppress & it signifies the suppression of passion, which is the Kashaya- anger, ego, deceit, and greed.

Why is it celebrated?

It is a time for self-analysis and soul searching for every person who believes in the concept and principles of Jainism. In Jainism, Paryushan fasting provides a break from routine life and allows one to reflect on your past conduct and reconstruct them under the teachings of Jainism. It helps one attain the determination to lead a more spiritual life in the future and thus, helps in spiritual actualization. This austerity also serves as a reminder that the ultimate and highest aim of life is not to pursue materialism but the attainment of Nirvana. Paryushan is also said to provide one with an opportunity to practice Ahimsa, which is non-violence to a great extent. By engaging in self-discipline (Sanyam), by performing penance (Tapah), such as study of scriptures (Swadhyaya), partial or complete fasting, introspection (Pratikraman) and introspection (Pratikraman) and repentance (Prayaschitta). One of the teachings from Jainism also says that every form of life is bound together by mutual support and interdependence. Therefore, this event also celebrates the community spirit that grows amongst all living creatures reverberates how & every soul should be united. Thus, the Jain Paryushan Parva aims to purify your soul by staying closer to your soul. The idea is to reflect on the past mistakes and ask for forgiveness a person might have committed & to vow to contemplate on their conduct to ensure that one attempts to lessen the probability of those mistakes in the future. Therefore, Jain people strive to forget about bodily pleasures like the taste; it helps one concentrate on their soul and achieves spiritual actualization.

Why should one fast?

In Jainism, fasting is an exemplary method of developing and exercising self-control. It is believed that if your health permits you to fast, every person must attempt to do so. One must strive to relinquish bodily pleasures by practising fasting occasionally. During this time, some Jains observe an eight-day fast (Athalia), drinking only boiled water, whilst others fast for a day (Anashan) or a partial fast (Ekaashan – eating once a day or Besan – eating twice a day).

What is Ayambil Aradhana?

In Jainism, Ayambil Aradhana is believed to be a tap that helps in the attainment of spirituality by giving one extreme control over one’s taste buds. Ayambil is scientifically structured to provide benefits to the body, mind, and soul. According to Jains, Ayambil provides one with spiritual upliftment by breaking one’s karma of present and past lives. This is done through immense control over taste buds and by overcoming bodily pleasures. The word Ayambil is said to have roots in the Sanskrit word, Achamla, where acham means soup and 'amla' means sour. Thus, Ayambil is believed to be a kind of fast that depends on the renouncement of tangy and sour taste. It is said that when one relinquishes these two tastes, all other tastes are automatically given up. While performing the fast, one strives to eat in a single sitting during the day. One must not consume food that contains vigai, which in Jainism is believed to be a perversion. Perversions are said to be the kind of food that alters the natural tendencies of a body, mind, and soul. These foods or vigai are believed to be uncontaminated and pervert the subject who consumes these items. Ayambil Aradhana is dependent on a strict renouncement of these items because it is believed that they take the soul to vigati, the worst hell in Jain scriptures. The perversions are relinquished to free the human mind from the four passions in Jain scriptures, i.e., the Kashaya – anger, pride, greed, and deceit.

Ayambil is said to be of three types, and each type suggests varying degrees of commitment, but all these types share a common understanding of the purpose of this fast, which is, of course, the spiritual upliftment of the soul, body, and mind. The difference between the various Ayambil fasts is chiefly length. These are:

● A single Ayambil fast

● The nine-day Ayambil Oli in which Oli is said to signify a line, and the Ayambil Oli is a fast that is performed for nine consecutive days during the Jain austerity of Ayambil Oli.

● The Navpad Oli is a series of nine consecutive Ayambil Oli fasts performed in the spring and autumn during the Ayambil Oli festivals. Thus, this series of fasts is performed to exercise 81 days of Ayambil fasting over four and a half years.

Why should one practice Ayambil Aradhana?

The benefits of Ayambil Aradhana in Jainism can be divided into two categories:

● The Health Benefits

● The Spiritual Benefits

The health benefits:

Aside from the religious beliefs of Ayambil helping in achieving spirituality, one must also note that Ayambil fasting is a scientifically derived process that has several health benefits. The Ayambil fasts help reduce the carbon footprints in one's body because it reduces the intake of dairy-based substances and other fruits and spices. It serves to keep the body healthy through the process of detoxification and cleansing. This process helps restore the balance of the digestive system. The renouncement of sugar-rich food controls diabetes while refraining from ghee and oil helps improve one's cholesterol level and helps avoid ailments related to the heart. Cardiac arrests can also be avoided by limiting your intake of oily and fried food items. The elimination of salt from your diet helps in the reduction of blood pressure and improves kidney functioning. A person's gut is full of microorganisms called microbes; these bacteria send various chemicals to the person's brain, skin, heart, and liver. These bacteria are made up of both good and bad microbes, and the bad bacteria are said to thrive on preserved foods, dairy products, and sugary foods, which lead to several problems like skin diseases, obesity, risk of heart failure and several mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. On the other hand, the good bacteria thrive on fibre-rich, nutritious food, which ultimately helps in the prevention of all those ailments and brings the nutrition level back to its natural balance. The natural ingredients in Ayurvedic medicines are also, therefore, preferable.

The Spiritual Benefits:

In Jainism, one practices the Ayambil Aradhana to gain control over the body's five senses, especially taste. This helps the person focus on their soul and to relinquish all other bodily pleasures; this, in turn, helps the person become aware of their selves and acquire spiritual enlightenment. The principal function of Ayambil fast is something called Anashakti Yoga. This means the consumption of food by the body without the involvement of the senses and mind. According to the scriptures, eating food involves hinsa; all and any action does and eating tasteless food is said to be a method of relinquishing this pleasure to attain purity. Jainism has its philosophy, which contains a pure method of looking at the world.

In Jainism, it is believed that control of the senses means control of the mind and leads to the attainment of eternal bliss and assures peace in the afterlife. By restraining the senses, by avoiding bodily pleasures or consciously attaching and detaching the mind to and from the senses, one gains great control over the mind. It is believed to be a sort of upliftment into the inner spiritual life. Achieving a state devoid of taste is considered an achievement that one finds after eliminating bodily pleasures. This helps one's spiritual development towards attaining control over the wavering mind that constantly seeks bodily and earthly pleasures. Thus, Ayambil Aradhana ultimately helps one gain inner peace and attain a wider understanding of the world through the lens of Jain philosophy.