Answer

Paryushan is observed so that Jains can pause worldly activities and focus deeply on:

• Self-purification
• Repentance for mistakes
• Forgiveness
• Study of Dharma
• Tapasya and self-control
• Reducing anger, ego, deceit, greed, and attachment

The word Paryushan is commonly understood as “coming closer to the soul” or “staying near the true nature of the self.” It is a sacred time for inner cleansing.

How It Came Into Existence

Paryushan is connected with the Jain monastic tradition.

During the rainy season, Jain monks and nuns traditionally stop wandering from place to place. This is called Chaturmas. The reason is that during the rains, many tiny living beings, plants, and insects arise in abundance. Walking and travelling during this time can unintentionally harm more living beings.

So, monks and nuns stay in one place and spend more time in:

• Scriptural study
• Meditation
• Preaching Dharma
• Tapasya
• Guiding householders

Householders also use this period to increase their spiritual practice. Over time, a special period within the rainy season became especially important for intense repentance, discipline, and forgiveness. This came to be observed as Paryushan.

Explanation

In Jain Dharma, the soul becomes bound by karma due to passions and careless actions. Paryushan gives us a disciplined opportunity to examine our life honestly.

During Paryushan, Jains commonly practice:

• Pratikraman — reflecting on faults and asking forgiveness
• Samayik — practicing equanimity
• Fasting — reducing attachment to the body and senses
• Swadhyay — studying scriptures and teachings
• Forgiveness — asking and giving forgiveness to all beings

Among Shvetambar Jains, Paryushan is generally observed for 8 days. Among Digambar Jains, the related festival is commonly observed as Das Lakshan Parva for 10 days, focusing on ten supreme virtues such as forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, purity, truth, self-restraint, austerity, renunciation, non-attachment, and celibacy.

Spiritual Understanding

Paryushan is not mainly a social festival; it is a festival of the soul.

Its purpose is to help us ask:

• Where did I act with anger?
• Where did I hurt someone knowingly or unknowingly?
• Where did I become careless in speech, thought, or action?
• How can I become more forgiving, humble, and peaceful?

The heart of Paryushan is Michchhami Dukkadam — asking forgiveness for any harm caused through mind, speech, or body.

Takeaway

We have Paryushan because Jain Dharma gives great importance to purification of the soul. It came into practice through the rainy-season discipline of monks and nuns, and it became a sacred period for all Jains to practice repentance, forgiveness, tapasya, and spiritual awakening.