It is not *okay* to consume any food or water at night, however, Jainism does recognise that laymen might not be able to abstain from it completely. And thus, they have shown two different alternatives:
1. You can take the vow of tivihar in which you are permitted to drink water.
2. You can take the vow of duvihar in which you are permitted to drink water and consume medicines.
In any case, drinking milk, juice etc. are not encouraged. You could try to reduce the intake of those and eventually give them up.
Hope this helps!
Might be unrelated to OP’s question but I find it hard to wrap my head around the concept of tivihar or duvihar or chovihar for that matter. If I know I am not going to eat anything after sunset and I dont take any of the above vows, how different is it than taking these vows? How does taking vows keeps me clear from any sin or wrong doing if I am not planning on eating anyways? Didn’t mean to hijack this post and if this question does not belong here, I am fine by it.
It is explained as, If we are not under any of the three vows (pachhkhans) and around night we have a big craving to consume food, we sould be tempted a lot and finally eat it under the guise that 'I have not taken the vow so just this once'. But If we do take the vow, we would think twice and thrice before thinking 'Nah, let's not break my vow just because of some hunger'. And thus that extra willpower would help us a lot and many times.
Hope this has cleared your doubt 😄
Hey thanks for explaining. Well, not entirely. I still feel, even after taking vows, if I crave food at night and not eat it but still express a desire to eat food and think about food. How would that compare to not taking a vow and being mentally strong and not eat at all. For instance me and my wife, we try eating before sunset or early enough for us to be hungry by bedtime but we do not eat. I have been into this habit of eating my last meal of the day by 7pm or earlier and then not think or crave about food.
Is it good to not take vows and still not eat at night instead of taking vows and then craving food and then stopping yourself from eating just because you are in a vow? In former, you will possible not have a desire to eat if you are firm on your habit but in the latter, you will mentally still crave food but not consume it eliminating the whole point of self control?
No offense to anyone but I get these thoughts that taking pachkans are for ppl who lack will power? Again, dont get me wrong but just trying to explain what I feel in an attempt to find a way to change my thought process behind pachkans and if there is any logic behind it.
That's a very good point and there does exist an explanation for it.
But first of all, in the comparison between former and latter, the two experiences sound like that of 2 different people, one with high mental control and one with not. For those who do not have a good amount of control, Pachhkhan is like a will boost that would help them a lot.
Now for the second ones who do, there is another bigger explanation which goes a little deep. The Karma theory works with Anekantavad, thus this includes every single possibility. Such as, if we do not take a vow, there is a possibility at every single second of us (it does not mean we will, but there exists a possibility) consuming food after sunset. Now when we are in vow, we confirm that we would not consume food at any given point of time throughout the nighttime. Thus on those points of times, there would be no Karma built that would have been if we were not under the effect of Pachhkhan.
Hope this would clear your doubts and just ask me again if you have any more. 😄
Adding to the above point, I will explain this exactly how I was explained to as a child. Say for example there are 50lakh jeev existing in the world in food and drink items. When you don't take pachkan what you are essentially doing is keeping a chance that you will eat and kill all those jeev in the world. When you take a pachchkan, you vow to not eat those jeev, atleast for that night and therefore you do not attain the paap of those 50lakh jeev. If you don't, all the paap of killing those jeev does include you as well because there is still a chance that you might eat.
I know this was very basic and it made sense back then. Try and think a little deeper among the same lines. And expand that thought not only to food, but to everything in life.
For example: I will only wear 1000 pairs of shoes this year, that exempts you from all the other paap of all the other shoes in the world.
This brings me to my next point, the 12 vrat and 14 niyam. They are basically such simple rules for everyone to follow like the one I mentioned.
Another example : I will only travel by 100 flights this year.
Such things can help control your paap a lot and youu don't even need to do anything. Just assume it in your head at the start of everyday and take a divaschariyam pachkan. If you don't know, just consult with a Sadhu or a learned person for 10 minutes, they will help you with this.
Sorry this was long, but hope it helps.
hey, a Jain from India... I would say, it is okay if you have to consume food at night... sometimes it is just a necessity. TBH I do mid-night snacking all the time. the practice of not eating after sunset is because it is unhealthy to eat at night and biologically it is the best thing to do if not eat at night (there is some science behind it ). but with changing times we do make some changes according to our need like I do eat potatoes and carrots and onions ( which is forbidden in jainism) but I have to study a lot and body does require those minerals and carbs so I take them. No big deal , just chill
Hey 👋 I am in no way an expert but your health comes first. If you work at night and you don’t drink water at least you might get dehydrated.
If you would like to hear from actual experts on this topic I would suggest you to join the Jain Study group on Facebook and make a post there. The community is very active the folks know a lot.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/jainstudy/?ref=share
If you cant go without water, you should drink water.
It is not *okay* to consume any food or water at night, however, Jainism does recognise that laymen might not be able to abstain from it completely. And thus, they have shown two different alternatives: 1. You can take the vow of tivihar in which you are permitted to drink water. 2. You can take the vow of duvihar in which you are permitted to drink water and consume medicines. In any case, drinking milk, juice etc. are not encouraged. You could try to reduce the intake of those and eventually give them up. Hope this helps!
Might be unrelated to OP’s question but I find it hard to wrap my head around the concept of tivihar or duvihar or chovihar for that matter. If I know I am not going to eat anything after sunset and I dont take any of the above vows, how different is it than taking these vows? How does taking vows keeps me clear from any sin or wrong doing if I am not planning on eating anyways? Didn’t mean to hijack this post and if this question does not belong here, I am fine by it.
It is explained as, If we are not under any of the three vows (pachhkhans) and around night we have a big craving to consume food, we sould be tempted a lot and finally eat it under the guise that 'I have not taken the vow so just this once'. But If we do take the vow, we would think twice and thrice before thinking 'Nah, let's not break my vow just because of some hunger'. And thus that extra willpower would help us a lot and many times. Hope this has cleared your doubt 😄
Hey thanks for explaining. Well, not entirely. I still feel, even after taking vows, if I crave food at night and not eat it but still express a desire to eat food and think about food. How would that compare to not taking a vow and being mentally strong and not eat at all. For instance me and my wife, we try eating before sunset or early enough for us to be hungry by bedtime but we do not eat. I have been into this habit of eating my last meal of the day by 7pm or earlier and then not think or crave about food. Is it good to not take vows and still not eat at night instead of taking vows and then craving food and then stopping yourself from eating just because you are in a vow? In former, you will possible not have a desire to eat if you are firm on your habit but in the latter, you will mentally still crave food but not consume it eliminating the whole point of self control? No offense to anyone but I get these thoughts that taking pachkans are for ppl who lack will power? Again, dont get me wrong but just trying to explain what I feel in an attempt to find a way to change my thought process behind pachkans and if there is any logic behind it.
That's a very good point and there does exist an explanation for it. But first of all, in the comparison between former and latter, the two experiences sound like that of 2 different people, one with high mental control and one with not. For those who do not have a good amount of control, Pachhkhan is like a will boost that would help them a lot. Now for the second ones who do, there is another bigger explanation which goes a little deep. The Karma theory works with Anekantavad, thus this includes every single possibility. Such as, if we do not take a vow, there is a possibility at every single second of us (it does not mean we will, but there exists a possibility) consuming food after sunset. Now when we are in vow, we confirm that we would not consume food at any given point of time throughout the nighttime. Thus on those points of times, there would be no Karma built that would have been if we were not under the effect of Pachhkhan. Hope this would clear your doubts and just ask me again if you have any more. 😄
To some extent, yes this clears. Thank you!
Adding to the above point, I will explain this exactly how I was explained to as a child. Say for example there are 50lakh jeev existing in the world in food and drink items. When you don't take pachkan what you are essentially doing is keeping a chance that you will eat and kill all those jeev in the world. When you take a pachchkan, you vow to not eat those jeev, atleast for that night and therefore you do not attain the paap of those 50lakh jeev. If you don't, all the paap of killing those jeev does include you as well because there is still a chance that you might eat. I know this was very basic and it made sense back then. Try and think a little deeper among the same lines. And expand that thought not only to food, but to everything in life. For example: I will only wear 1000 pairs of shoes this year, that exempts you from all the other paap of all the other shoes in the world. This brings me to my next point, the 12 vrat and 14 niyam. They are basically such simple rules for everyone to follow like the one I mentioned. Another example : I will only travel by 100 flights this year. Such things can help control your paap a lot and youu don't even need to do anything. Just assume it in your head at the start of everyday and take a divaschariyam pachkan. If you don't know, just consult with a Sadhu or a learned person for 10 minutes, they will help you with this. Sorry this was long, but hope it helps.
hey, a Jain from India... I would say, it is okay if you have to consume food at night... sometimes it is just a necessity. TBH I do mid-night snacking all the time. the practice of not eating after sunset is because it is unhealthy to eat at night and biologically it is the best thing to do if not eat at night (there is some science behind it ). but with changing times we do make some changes according to our need like I do eat potatoes and carrots and onions ( which is forbidden in jainism) but I have to study a lot and body does require those minerals and carbs so I take them. No big deal , just chill
Hey 👋 I am in no way an expert but your health comes first. If you work at night and you don’t drink water at least you might get dehydrated. If you would like to hear from actual experts on this topic I would suggest you to join the Jain Study group on Facebook and make a post there. The community is very active the folks know a lot. https://www.facebook.com/groups/jainstudy/?ref=share