A new beginning means to start a fresh, which means to leave the past behind, to erase past impressions and create new ones, to clean the board and write a new story, to burn away past karmas and perform new pious karma.
In Jain dharma it is believed that at the end of 6th “aara” (a period of 21,000 years) after all destructions, there was resurgence of life and vegetation all around. There were seven types of rains for seven days each, which lasted for 49 days and helped cleanse the past adharmas, sins and negativities. “Samvatsari” was celebrated on the 50th day as a mark of joy of resurgence and purity. Since the day was so auspicious, dharma gurus had decided to make it a spiritual festival and called it “Paryushan”.
Paryushan is a combination of two words “par” meaning all kinds and “ushan” meaning to burn. So Paryushan means to “burn away all kinds of karmas”. It is a celebration through which the karmic matter attached to the soul is totally burnt, vanquished and extinguished. The last day of Paryushan is “Samvatsari” meaning “once in a year”.
