Paryushan is a special, intensive spiritual period. Compared to typical days, Jains live with extra care, discipline, and devotion.

How it is different from normal days

• Aim: Daily life focuses on routine duties; Paryushan focuses on deep self-purification, reducing karma, and moving closer to right faith, knowledge, and conduct.
• Vows and conduct: Regular vows are followed daily, but during Paryushan people strengthen them—more samayik, pratikraman, aloyan (confession), kayotsarg (meditative stillness), scriptural study, and restraint of senses.
• Food discipline: Daily Jain diet avoids himsa; during Paryushan it becomes stricter—limited variety, many observe fasting (from partial to complete), boiled water in fixed hours, avoid eating after sunset with greater vigilance.
• Speech and mind: Extra care to avoid anger, pride, deceit, greed; practice of maitri (friendliness), kshama (forgiveness), and equanimity is emphasized all day.
• Time use: Entertainment, social outings, and unnecessary travel are minimized; more time is given to meditation, pravachan, and seva.
• Temple/saṅgh activities: More collective pratikraman, sermons, and scripture readings; laypeople serve and support sadhus-sadhvis with devotion.
• Forgiveness day: The last day is dedicated to seeking and granting forgiveness (Michhami Dukkadam), which is not done with this intensity on ordinary days.

Differences by tradition

• Shwetambar Jains: Observe 8 days called Paryushan; daily pravachans, Kalpa Sutra readings, and Samvatsari Pratikraman on the last day.
• Digambar Jains: Observe 10 days called Das Lakshan Parva; each day focuses on one of the ten supreme virtues (kshama, mardava, arjava, shauch, satya, sanyam, tap, tyag, akinchan, brahmacharya).

In short: On normal days we try to live rightly; during Paryushan we live those ideals more intensely—with stricter vows, more fasting, deeper reflection, and universal forgiveness.