Iriyavahiyam Sutra is a short Prakrit prayer used to seek forgiveness for harm done while moving or walking. It is one of the principal Pratikraman sutras recited in Jain practice, and it is explained in detail in Śvetāmbara texts (with some slight differences in Digambara texts). Below is a simple, word‑by‑word style explanation of the main lines and ideas, in easy language.
Opening invocation (general sense)
- Ichchhākarēṇa sandisāham Bhagavān
- Meaning: O Guru or Lord, with the consent/will of the teacher, I speak or bow. It signals that the prayers are offered with proper willingness and humility.
- Meaning: I am coming to move about in the world (i.e., I am about to move/walk). It introduces the act of movement being the occasion for potential harm to living beings.
- Meaning: I seek forgiveness (khamsamaṇam is a form of apology/submission). The speaker asks for pardon for any unintentional hurt.
- Icchhāmi padik kamīm Iriyavahiyāe virāhaṇāe gamṇa-gamane
- Meaning: I seek forgiveness for any harm caused during movement, whether while going away, coming toward, or while moving about (gamanā-gamana = walking/going and coming).
The core part: what is being forgiven
- Pānakkamane, biakkamane, hariyakkamane
- Meaning: For harms caused to beings through:
- Pānakkamane: stepping on or injuring beings that live on/through life-breath (a broad category of tiny life forms)
- Biakkamane: harming seeds or sprouting life
- Hariyakkamane: harming plants/vegetation
- Osa utting-pañg dagamatti makkadā-santānā-sankamane
- Meaning: For harms to:
- Osa: dew or moisture on the ground
- Uttiṅ: ant hills or small insect settlements
- Paṅga: moss and small growth
- Dag-matti: earth, mud, dirt
- Makkadā-santānā: larvae/young ones (and similar tiny life forms)
- Sankamane: any other kinds of contact or harm formed by movement
- Meaning: For harm done to the jīvas (living beings) in the act of movement.
Beings being considered (categories of sentient beings)
- Egindia, beindia, teindia, chaurindia, panchindia
- Meaning: The different categories of beings by number of senses:
- One-sensed (ekendriya): earth, water, fire, air, plants
- Two-sensed (dviendriya): some small creatures with touch and taste
- Three-sensed (trindriya): more complex beings with touch, taste, and smell
- Four-sensed (chaurindriya): many insects with touch, taste, smell, and sight
- Five-sensed (panchindriya): beings with all five senses (humans, gods, etc.)
- Abhihaya, vattiya, lesiya, sanghaiya, sanghattya, pariyaviyā, kilamiya, uddāviya, thānao thāṇam sankāmiyā
- Meaning: The ten kinds of harm (virādhan) that can occur during movement:
- Abhihaya: striking, hitting, or colliding
- Vattiya: covering with dust or grime
- Lesiya: rubbing or pressing against the body or ground
- Sanghaiya: contact that causes pain
- Sanghattya: causing trouble or distress
- Pariyaviyā: causing suffering or discomfort
- Kilamiya: tiring or exhausting the being
- Uddaviya: frightening or agitating the being
- Thānao thāṇam sankāmiyā: moving from one place to another (displacing)
- Jiviyāto vyaparovita: taking life or causing death
The spiritual aim
- Meaning: I ask for forgiveness for all these harms. It expresses sincere repentance and a vow to be more mindful and non‑violent.
Notes on how to read and use these lines
- The sutra is usually recited during Pratikramana or during intimate moments of purification (Kausagga) and is meant to cultivate humility, mindfulness, and ahimsa (non‑violence) in daily movement.
- Different Jain traditions (Śvetāmbara and Digambara) may have slightly different wording or order for some segments. The essential meaning—asking forgiveness for unknowing harm caused by movement—remains the core.
If you’d like, I can give you a compact line-by-line gloss with exact word‑by‑word translations for each phrase as it appears in a specific tradition, or provide a ready‑to‑recite version in the Prakrit with a side-by-side meaning.
You can read more here and here
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