Iriyavahiyam Sutra

Meaning of the Sutra :

I desire to free myself from all my sins.

While walking I may have given pain to or crushed living beings such as:

Live animate seeds
Live plants
Living beings in the dew
Living ant hills
Living moss
Living beings in the water
Living beings in the earth
Living webs of spiders

I may have harassed or may have crushed all of these.

Whatever living beings may have had pain caused by me:

Living beings with only one sense, the sense of touch, as in the elements of earth, water, fire, air, and in plants;
Living beings with only two senses, the sense of touch and taste, as in worms and shell creatures;
Living beings with three senses, the sense of touch, taste, and smell, as in ants;
Living beings with four senses, the sense of touch, taste, smell, and sight, as in bees, wasps, and other flying insects;
Living beings with all five senses, the sense of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing, as in beings of the water (fish), beings of the land (mammals, animals and human), and beings of the sky (birds).

Whoever may have been struck by me while traveling;

Whoever I may have covered by dust;
Whoever I may have been rubbed up against;
Whoever I may have been forced to collide with;
Whoever I may have inflicted pain upon;
Whoever I may have frightened;
Whoever I may have had pain caused by my touching or tilting them;
Whoever may have been tormented by being turned entirely upside down;
Whoever I may have shifted from one place to another;
Whoever I may have separated from life and made lifeless.

May all that be forgiven and may all the suffering I caused, knowingly or unknowingly, come to an end. May the ignorance in me that caused pain in other living beings come to an end, and may they all forgive me.

By recitation of this sutra a person enumerates the sins that may have been committed by him/her in ordinary day-to-day life while moving around. He repents, apologizes, and asks for forgiveness for those sins.

Utility:

Whatever sins are incurred of committed in going and coming are removed by this sootra.