Padhamam Havei Mangalam: This Navkar Mantra is the foremost.

Manglananch Savvesim: Amongst all that is auspicious, Savva-pavappanasano: Destroy all the sins, This is a reason Jain Sashus and Sadhvis are very rare personalities.Įso Panch Namokaro: These five bowing downs,

For a worldly person like you and me this seems a difficult rather an impossible job. They do not touch any person of opposite sex. They do not stay in one place for a longer time. They do not eat before sunrise or after sunset. The newly initiated sadhu or sadhvi adopts five major vows:ĥ) Observance of Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) This person become detached from the worldly aspects of life (Moah and Maya) and spends entire life in spiritual upliftment. SADHUS AND SADHVIS (their color is dark purple - near to black)Ī male person who renounces the worldly life is called a monk or sädhu, and a female is called a nun or sadhvi. They teach Jain scriptures to deserving aspirants, including sädhus and sädhvis. Upadhyayas are those Sädhus who have acquired a special knowledge of the Jain scriptures (Agams). I bow down to Upadhyaya, UPADHYAYAS (the color of Upadhyayas is green) They are the persons whom the almighty selects themselves.Īn in-depth study Jain Agams, having high level of spiritual excellence, ability to lead the monastic communion, knowledge of various languages of the country, a sound knowledge of other philosophies, ideologies, and religions of the region and the world makes a Acharya. The responsibility of the spiritual welfare of the entire Jain Samaj rests on their shoulders. They carry out the message of Jina (Tirthankara). Our spiritual leaders are called Acharyas. I bow down to Acharya, ACHARYAS (the color of Acharyas is yellow) Without Arihantas nobody can know about the Siddhas. It is the arihantas or the Tirthankaras who tell the people the right way to move to. Here a question can arise 'If Siddhas are the highest state then why do we bow to Arihantas first and then to the siddhas' the answer is 'we do so because the Siddhas were not present to speak to the people and tell them the right way. They know and perceive everything in total that is happening now, that has happened in the past, and that which will happen in the future all at the same time. They have paid all dues of their karmas, thus freeing themselves forever from the cycle of birth and death (AkshayaSthiti). They have reached the highest state, salvation, and have attained Moksha. I bow down to Siddha, SIDDHAS (the color of Siddhas is red) Siddhas are liberated souls. There are twenty-four Tirthankaras during every half time cycle. Arihantas who have attained Tirthankar NämKarma become Tirthankaras while the rest of them become Ordinary Arihants. Arihantas are divided into two categories: Tirthankar and Ordinary. A soul can only reach the state of Arihanta by overcoming all its inner enemies. Only a person with human body can become a Tirthankara. Enemies such as anger, greed, enemies, which defile the true nature of the soul. Consequently, Arihanta means destroyer of enemies. The term Arihanta is made up of Ari, meaning enemies, and hant, meaning destroyer. I bow down to Arihanta, ARIHANTAS (the color of Arihantas is white)

It was, is, and will remain the Mulya Mantra of Jainism. The Navkär Mantra contains the essence of Jainism. This mantra is a bow down to these supreme spiritual personalities, and therefore, it is also called Namaskär or Namokär Mantra. This makes a process to purify himself, at least for that very time period.

With each line of the mantra the aspirant makes a way for the impurities in his inner self to move out and virtues of these spiritual people move in. This enables him to remember virtues of all the supreme spiritual people instead of just one particular person. It has been considered that while reciting the Navkar Mantra, we bows with respect to all the Arihantas, Siddhas, Ächäryäs, Upädhyäyas, Sädhus, and Sädhvi, and not to any particular one. Any time is a suitable time for the recitation of the Navkar mantra and also any place is suitable, but yes our mind and heart should be pure. There is no particular time of the day to recite it. The Navkar Mantra is the most fundamental (mulya) mantra of Jains.

Namo arihantanam namo siddhanam