Jain Questions

If you have any questions about Jainism – Share your questions as comments beow and We will try to add them after getting answers.

Why do Jains fast?
Fasts may be done as a penance, especially for Jain Monks (Maharaj Saheb). In Jainsim, a person’s life is a reflection of his karmas. Happiness or comforts usually we don’t notice but any distressful situation to extreme calamities, we always try to find out solutions. Shastras indicate either you suffer through with sambhav or adopt a way of austerity, to cut it short. It can be done before karmas start manifesting. More or less like prevention. The prevention is undertaken through penance. The other benefits are self-control and a healthier, joyful life. Fasting also purifies body and mind, and reminds the practitioner of Mahavira’s emphasis on renunciation and asceticism, because Mahavira spent a great deal of time fasting. It is not sufficient for a Jain simply to not eat when fasting. They must also stop wanting to eat. If they continue to desire food the fast is pointless.

What do you mean by Tivihar Upvas?
In Upvas, Don’t eat or drink anything except boiled water. Boiled water can be drunk from Porsi to sunset Only. By doing Upvas, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 1000 billion years of hell life – i.e. karma nirjara.

What do you mean by Chauvihar Upvas?
Chauvihar or Chouvihar Upvas means you do not drink or eat anything, not even boiled water.

What is Navkarsi ?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill 48 minutes after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand (Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water. By doing navkarsi one day, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 100 years of torture in hell – i.e. karma nirjara.

What is Pachkan?
Pachkan is basically an oath. It means you have committed to something be it fast or not eating after sunset.

What is Porsi?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill One Prahar time after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand(Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water. By doing Porsi one day, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 1,000 years of hell life – i.e. karma nirjara.

What is Prahar?
Take total daytime(i.e. If sunrise is at 6:45 am and sunset is at 7:15 pm then whole daytime is 12:30 hours), divide it by four then it will give one prahar time. One Prahar = Total daytime/4 i.e. if daytime is 12 hours and 30 minutes then One Prahar = (12:30)/4 = 3:07:30 (3 Hours 7 Minutes 30 Seconds)

What is Sadhporsi?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill 1.5 Prahar time after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand(Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water. By doing Porsi one day, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 10,000 years of hell life – i.e. karma nirjara.

What is Purimaddha?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill Two Prahars time after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand (Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water. By doing Porsi one day, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 100,000 years of hell life – i.e. karma nirjara.

What is Avadhha?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill Three Prahar time after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand (Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water.

What is Ayambil?
In Ayambil or Aaimbil you eat only once in a day, Don’t eat any Vigai-Fruits-Vegetables, sitting at one place within less than 48 minutes. Other than that dont eat or drink anything except boiled water. Boiled water cab be drunk up to sunset Only. By doing Ayambil, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 100 billion years (1000 crore years) of hell life – i.e. karma nirjara. Navpad Ni Oli means doing 9 Ayambils during Ashwin or Chaitri Month.

What is Nivi?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill One Prahar time after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand (Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water.

What is Ekasanu?
In Ekasan, Eat only once in a day, sitting at one place within less than 48 minutes. Other than that dont eat or drink anything except boiled water. Boiled water cab be drunk up to sunset Only. By doing Ekashan, a person can shed karmas equivalent to 1 million years (10 Lac) of hell life – i.e. karma nirjara.

What is Biyasanu?
Don’t eat or drink anything untill Two Prahars time after the sunrise, then sit at one place , fold your hand (Muththi vaalavi or handful), recite Navkar 3 times and then take food or water.

What is Chauvihar?
In Chauvihar, one does not take any food or any liquids after the sunset until the sunrise next day.

What is Tivihar?
In Tivihar one does not take food of any kind including liquids except water after the sunset until the sunrise of next day but can take water.

What is Duvihar?
In Duvihar one does not take food of any kind including liquids except water and medicine after the sunset until the sunrise of next day but can take water and medicine.

What is Panhar?
In Panhar, one does not take any food or any liquids after the sunset until the sunrise next day. This pachakhan is taken when one has done Tivihar Upvas, Ayambil, Nivi, Ekasanu or Biyasan

What is Dharana Abhigrah?
In Dharana Abhigrah is customised pachakhan. One can decide any kind of tyag based on God’s way and take pachakhan. i.e. One can decide that he/she will not eat Sweets for 5 days. Then they should decide it and take Dharana Abhigrah pachakhan.

What is Unodari / Unodri ?
Always eat little less than, what you desire and need to eat. We are limiting
ourselves partially. At times this may become more difficult, as once you start eating. Scientifically, we all understand this is a healthy practice.

What do you mean by Santhara?
Santhara or Sallenkhana is a procedure in which a Jain stops eating with the intention of preparing for death. This is different from suicide as it is not taken in passionate mood of anger, deceit or other emotions, but is undertaken only when the body is no longer capable of serving its owner as a instrument of sprituality and when inevitability of death is a matter of undisputed certainty. The intention is to purify the body, and remove all thought of the physical things from the mind. As well as giving up food and water, the ascetic abandons all desires and dislikes so that they can concentrate exclusively on the spiritual as they approach death.

What is Vigai?
There are Six types of Vigais, namely Milk, Yogurt, Jaggary, Ghee, Oil and Fried Food. Vigai Tyag could be Kacho (Partial) or Mul (Complete). This helps us to control temptation for eating food, which helps you to cut down passions.

What is Kayakiesh?
Kayakiesh means to place body under stressful environment or situation e.g. cold, heat, walking bare feet, hunger, kesh loach etc. This helps us to reduce attachment to body.

What is Varshitap?
The duration of this tap is from Fagan krushna aathum to vaishakh shukla trija in next year. This consists of one day of besana and one day of upwas on alternate days for the complete year. If the day falls on the tithi, an upwas must be observed causing two consecutive days of fasting. Parnas are done with cane sugar juice in palitana, hastinapur, or any tirth where Shri Adinath’s idol is installed

What is Vardhaman Tap?
For this Oli, you need to keep incrementing the Ayambils separated by 1 Upvas – the first 20 days should be done continously in following order: 1 Ayambil – 1 Upvas, 2 Ayambil – 1 Upvas, 3 Ayambil – 1 Upvas, 4 Ayambil – 1 Upvas, 5 Ayambil – 1 Upvas – you can then take a break and start whenever you can with 6 Ayambil – 1 Upvas, 7 Ayambil – 1 Upvas, etc. The entire Oli completes when you finish 100 Ayambil and 1 Upvas. This usually takes more than 14 years to complete in total with 5050 Ayambils and 100 Fasts.

What is Vish sthanak Tap?
All Tirthankars perform this austerity in 3rd last life. There are 20 different Pad and in each you do a minimum of 20 Akasnas to Authum (3 fasts in row) in six months along with other rituals and essentials

What is Siddhi Tap?
One fast and one besana, two fasts and one besana, three fasts and one besana and so on to include eight fasts and one besana are performed during the paryushana. Also some rituals are involved.

120 thoughts on “Jain Questions

      1. nivi explaination wrong .. it’s same as porasi how u explained

        michchami dukkadam

      1. Please guide. Where can I find the proof of this? Any Jain scripture confirms this?

    1. Hi Mahima, Just like we have updated the recipe of Jain Cheese, which can be made at home within few hours… I will soon update Butter recipe as well which can be used in any of our recipes.

      1. Hi.. Hoping you will be in saata…
        Can I please ask why butter is not Jain? How about ghee…?
        Being vegan I do not use these items anyway but good to know how and why butter is not Jain

  1. What are 20 different Pad (names and their detailed explanation) as mentioned in Vish sthanak Tap?

      1. Are Jains allowed to drive automobiles? So many insects are killed on the windscreens.

  2. Thanks for the information! Wanted to ask if you can discuss chaitvandan, how to do it and what to recite. I would really appreciate it. Hope your paryushan is going great

  3. how different forms of fasting got evolved? how were they design and by whom?were they laid down by Lord Mahavir?

    1. Hi Harendra, Each Fasts and Tapasyas have their specific reasons and are done to please or achieve various punyas. This is a very large topic and cant be explained here but yes alot of them have been laied down by what bhagawan or their direct disciples did during their days.

    1. Hi Pratik, Micro-organisms exists in Water as well – and while yogurt is allowed – we should also make sure it is heated before we consume it. The reason we heat is to avoid multiplying of bacterias. Jain Munis follow a simple rule of consuming food which is offered to them. They do not ask for special foods or can they ideally refuse any foods. It is upto us to make sure we give them food suitable for Jain Dharma.

  4. अमि्बल एकासन में क्या फर्क होता हैं

    1. जैन धर्म के बारे में लाजवाब जानकारी जान के अच्छा लगा

  5. 1) Once you have recited 3 Navkars (in Muththi vaalavi or handful) & then you took water / food. Afterwards, you have to additionally recite 1 Navkar by joining hands before getting up.

    2) Why Ayambil is to be carried out during Bakrid ?

    1. Hello Rakesh, on bakriid lots of goats are been killed and eaten by muslim community. So its a sad day for us and just to pay condolences we do not eat items which are white in colour(rice, milk etc) People do ayambil on this day to reduce the sins caused by killing the goats.

  6. It is very useful and handy information for me. I am glad this is available to us, I do not have to find some to ask those small questions. This easy and silly to some one but so important for me.

    1. Thank you Geeta for your appreciation. The difference between ekasnu and beyasnu is in ekasnu you can sit and eat the meal once in a day and in beyasnu is twice a day. Hope this answers your question.

  7. Hi there!

    I wonder if there’s a way to become a Jain if one wasn’t born a Jain.
    I grew up in an agnostic family in Europe and haven’t been baptized. I’m vegan, because I wouldn’t want to hurt any living being, and I consider non-violence the most important and fundamental virtue.
    Do Jains convert people? Could I become a Jain?

    Love,
    Anna

    1. Hi Anna,

      Jain is not a religion, IT IS A WAY OF LIFE. Technically anyone who follows path to salvation as said by Jinendra (God) is called Jain. If you live life following basic principals of non-violence and Ahimsa and follow the path to salvation then you are already Jain.

  8. Very good information. Where can I find translation of Pachkans? What you have on your site is transliteration i.e. The same words are written in english, hindi and gujarati fonts. Where can I find the meaning of all pachkans?

    1. Hi Usha
      Yogurt or Curd are acceptabe as long as there is minimal bacterial growth. We usually heat yogurt to ensure most of the bacteria are either eradicated or stops growing further and hence avoiding any additional harm. I hope this helps.

      1. Hi I would also like to add here that one should not mix pulses with raw milk and curds (The grains like wheat, Bengal gram, Green gram, black gram, lentil etc. ). This is Viruddha food or prohibited food for body and soul. It becomes dwidal

  9. I have a few questions about Jainism, I have asked other Jains and am still waiting for a reply, perhaps you can offer me assistance:
    1. Can a Jain drink blood?
    2. Can a Jain be a blood donor/receiver?
    3. Can a Jain in any circumstance consume animal flesh?
    4. Can a Jain donate/receive an organ transplant?
    5. Can a Jain use IgG or Fab(2) antivenom (it is made from animal blood)?
    Thank you for your time.
    -Douglas

    1. Let me try to answer but I am not expert who knows absolute truth.
      1) and 3) jain should not drink blood or eat animal flesh. No harm to anyone to be done. For ex: for fun or taste, etc purposes. It should be completely avoided as possible but again it comes to individual how strictly one follows the rules.
      2) & 4) yes Jain can donate organs. In my point of view, we can receive organ from someone if he/she is donating it without any pressure or force. We should not take advantage of someone and get it. Again it comes to individual to decide, as most of time people donate it in pressure or for money or by fraud so we should know the source. Suppose someone died and he donated all his organs then that can be used because he donated it before death willfully and without force.
      5) Some jains use such things to save life or cure serious life threatening situations, only for medical purpose. We cannot avoid harm completely so we try to make it minimal as possible. However, there are jains who prefer to die rather than accepting medicine which is made by killing or torturing animals.

  10. WHY KARIYATU AND HING MARI UKALO OFFERED FIRST WHEN DOING AYAMBIL?
    BENEFITS OF KARIYATU AND UKALO?
    WHERE DO YOU FIND THEM AND HOW TO MAKE?
    THANK YOU.

  11. I am jain, I wanted to know that whether i can soak rice or dal in water after 12:00am or after 4:00 am?

  12. jai Jinendra
    i want to ask you something please clear my doubts and help please
    i am a hindu but me jain aachray ji se kafi parbhawit hu specially jain religion se hi. yo kya mujhe achary ji se tap aaur dharam ki siksha mil sakti hai ya nhi?

  13. what if some one takes pachkan for upwas and for some reason cannot continue can he or she do Ekasanu or Biyasanu . if yes, than what is the steps to low down the paap or it ….

  14. As a Jain, I go to temple and do Pooja.
    However now a days I don’t do Pooja of all the idols in the temple, I just do main idols in gambhara.
    My question here is what is more important to do Pooja of all idol or just do few but with Bhav and time.
    Coz I see many people just trying to do as fast as possible.

  15. My son 8 years old and he is bad ridden ..what all pachakhan shud I give him. ??.as he can not see..walk..talk..move..only can hear..

  16. Hello everyone my name is poonam pandey i am a north indian girl the person whom i love is jain i like jainism and i love them bcoz they are very polite as per i have seen my ppl who are jain i really want to to follow paryushan from my heart n want to follow this purely i am going to do ekasna as i do gym and work according to my mind set i decided to do ekasna i have few questuon that i know grounded stuffs i cant eat but peanut butter and brown bread and almonds walnut and anar and papaya is allowed to eat on this 8 days of paryushan as he is shevtambar so pls slove my these queries it will be a great help for me michhami dukkadam

  17. नमस्कार !
    आपसे निवेदन है कि मेरी एक शंका दूर करें कि क्या अन्य धर्म के किसी पूर्व स्थापित धार्मिक स्थल की भूमि पर जैन समाज द्वारा कब्जा किया जा सकता है और उस देवस्थल को घेरकर जैन धर्म का धार्मिक स्थल बनाया जा सकता है ?

        किसी भी ऐसे स्थान जहाँ पूर्व में अन्य धर्म का देवस्थान है, उस पर जैन पूजा स्थल स्थापित करने को लेकर आपका जैन दर्शन क्या कहता है ? और अगर जाने-अनजाने में आपके समाज द्वारा अन्य धर्म की भावनाओं को आहत करके/ पूजा स्थल पर कब्जा करके जैन धार्मिक स्थल बना लिया जाता है तो क्या उस स्थिति में उस जैन स्थल को आपका धर्म पूजा योग्य मानता है ?

      मेरी उपरोक्त सभी शंकाओं का निवारण करने की कोशिश करियेगा।

  18. Sir according me, in nivi sabhi vidai ka tyag karna hota hai what you wrote in nivi is for ekasana

  19. Why Jains are asked not to eat any white appearing items like rice, milk, etc on Eid? Please elaborate it! Thanks.

  20. I am follower of jainsim (shewtamber) and I have few questions …
    1) what is the complete vidhi of doing ekasana of 108 parsavnathbhagwan including the path ?
    2) can we take medicine during upvas?
    3)chunari vart vidhi during paryushan?

  21. Jai Jinendra,

    Kindly advise how KHEER SAMUNDRA works.

    And is there SMALL and BIG KHEER SAMUNDRA.

    Do advise URGENTLY.

  22. Can anybody say eight day upavas is called aththai

    But for two days is called Chathth for 3 day Aththam

    How this words came
    Chathth and Aththai ? Or any special signification

  23. 1) Is mushroom considered as living being and hence not consumed?
    2) Even diary products results in a lot of pain in animals then why is this ok to consume?

  24. ઉપવાસ પૂર્ણ થઈ જાય પછી પારણા કરતા પહેલા લેવામાં આવતા પચખાણ

    1. English: Dharanaa, Abhiggaham, Pachchakkhaai (Pachchakkhaami), Annatthanaabhogenam, Sahasaagaarenam, Mahattaraagarenam, Savvasamaahivattiyaa-Gaarenam, Vosirai (Vosiraami).

      Gujarati: ધારણા અભિગ્ગહં પચ્ચક્ ખાઇ (પચ્ચક્ ખામિ); અન્નત્થણાભોગેણં, સહસાગારેણં, મહત્તરાગારેણં, સવ્વસમાહિ-વત્તિયાગારેણં વોસિરઈ (વોસિરામિ)

      Hindi: धारणा अभिग्गहं पच्चक् खाइ (पच्चक् खामि); अन्नत्थणाभोगेणं, सहसागारेणं, महत्तरागारेणं, सव्वसमाहि-वत्तियागारेणं वोसिरई (वोसिरामि).

  25. Very good information. The information given for “Nivi” is actually for “Navkarshi” I think Nivi is kind of Aymbil with some relaxation for using Dahi/yogurt. Please correct after confirmation.

  26. If I drank water at 4 am in the morning and after waking up at 8am I take pachkkan of Porsi, will it be counted ?

  27. I want to know that how it upvas,navkarsi,ratri bhojan k tyag n all relates to our health n how to it benefits us today regarding our health ??

    1. It detoxifies your complete body .

      Unless you experience , you would not be able to understand its importance

  28. If Aymbil ka pakhan lene ke bad galti se Roti per Ghee laga kar kha liya to kya karna chahiye.

  29. Hi, my mom bought two rose plants to put in my garden, total about 4500 rupees expenditure. In my garden, I try to leave undisturbed as much as possible and have put plants good for insects, bees, birds, etc. However, the rose plants – since they are not natural but human bred – are vulnerable to tiny insects called rose aphids; these insects can completely cover the plant and kill it. Sometimes, ladybirds and other insects will eat and control the aphids. But right now, not so much, so I continuously crush and remove the aphids from the rose. In general, as a vegan I try my best not to harm life, but this is making me feel guilty. Is it ok for me to do this?
    Also, I grow vegetables in my garden to reduce market buying and so it’s better for environment, but in doing so I have to pull up weeds around the vegetable plants – is this wrong?
    Thank you

  30. When does navkarsi start ? i.e. start time for navkarsi ?
    Also, do you need to be awake for entire 48 minutes after sunrise for navkarsi ?

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