AYAMBIL ARADHNA
(Arihant Bhagwant ni agyam thi)
Ayambil is a type of Jaina external tapa (under Rasa Tyag), scientifically designed to give benefits to mind, body and soul. The fast of Ayambil is observed to attain spiritual upliftment through the achievement of victory over taste and to shed karmic bondage .
THE WORD
The word Ayambil has its roots in the Sanskrit word – ACHAMALA – ‘Acham’ – soup + ‘amla’ – sour = tangy sour soup. It is thus the fast to give up tangy sour taste. It has been explained that when one gives up these two tastes all other tastes are automatically given up.
THREE TYPES
Ayambil are of three types. Each suggests varying degrees of commitment, but all are understood to aim at the shared goal of well-being of the soul, body and family. The fasts differ primarily in terms of their length:
• a single ĀYAMBIL fast
• the nine-day ĀYAMBIL OLI – Olī means ‘a line’ and the Āyambil Oḷī fast is a line of nine days of āyambil fasts performed back to back during the Āyambil Olī festival.
• the NAVPAD OLI, which is a series of nine consecutive nine-day Āyambil Oḷīs performed during the spring and autumn Āyambil Olī festivals. This results in 81 days of āyambil fasting over four and a half years.
WHEN IS THE TAP PERFORMED
Āyambil fasts are predominantly performed during the biannual (spring and autumn) nine-day Olī festival – starting every year of the 7th day of the bright Chaitra and 7th bright day of Aso and ending on the ninth day that is on Purnima – last day of bright Chaitra and Aso respectively. The autumn festival is celebrated by more people, in part because at that time of year Jain mendicants frequently stay near local communities during Chaumasa – the rainy season retreat.
Ayambils are also performed on those days where fasting is a requirement for Jains. Many mendicants take nearly constant āyambil vows.
HOW IS THE TAP PERFORMED
An āyambil fast is a one-sitting fast involving the eating of only tasteless foods. One does not take food containing or prepared with VIGAI (perversion) = the food objects which change the natural tendencies of body, mind and soul and pervert them are vigai. All food which takes the soul to ‘vigati’ – worst kind of ‘narak’ hell. The vigai’s are sacrificed because they arouse the 4 passions or kashay – anger, pride, greed and deceit.
There are two broad divisions of Vigai –
– LAGHU VIGAI = 6 types – jiggery/sugar, milk(dudh), clarified butter(ghee), curds(dahi), oil(tel) and the fried items(pakwans) are given up. These are Vigai’s which brings in ill thoughts in body & does not allow soul to rise but no Jiv’s get killed in this.
– MAHA VIGAI = 4 types – butter(makhan), honey(madh), eggs-meat-fish(maans) and alcohol(madira). Called as great perversions because they are very dangerous for body & its thoughts as it also is the result of tremendous hinsa of a lot of jivs (living creatures). A Jain is to refrain from these life-long.
In an Ayambil tap, food is taken only once in a day time and at other times only boiled water has to be taken. One refrains also from vegetables, fruits, spices, jiggery and other sweeteners etc. Food is free from all spices except – roasted salt (specific salt used and roasted in a specific way), Pepper, dry Ginger (soonth), Asafetida (hing) and Peepramul or ganthoda. Only cereals, pulses are taken as food just enough quantity for survival or sustenance of the body. After sunset, water should not be taken.
ANALOGY
Wise Jaina seers have explained the spiritual concept of Ayambil with the analogy of the snake entering its burrow.
A snake when moves about, never moves in a straight line, always crooked, wavering. However when entering its burrow its tracks are always straight and continuous.
‘Bil’ or snake burrow has been likened to our mouths and the entry of the snake within to the entry of food when we eat. Tasty food man normally will keep longer in the mouth, relishing the taste or ras with secretion of more saliva versus a medicine pill that he would swallow. We must eat like a snake enters his home.
Jain practice of ‘tap’ advocates us to treat food as only a means of sustaining the body. All spices, additives etc that we season our food with is to satisfy our senses and not the body. The body has no need for the same. ‘Sharir thij sadhana che’ – meaning austerities or ‘tap’ can only be undertaken through the body. Thus to fulfill the needs of my body is our duty but to fulfill the needs of the senses or mind is pleasure.
Ayambil is the penance of controlling taste and not food.
CONTROL OF THE TONGUE = CONTROL OF ALL SENSES
The Jain Dharma declares that of all the various impulses that cause a soul to be ensnared in the world, the desire to consume and more specifically the desire to eat are thought to be amongst most primal ones. They have proclaimed that the control of the organ of taste is the most difficult to control, even more than the sense of touch (sense of genitals), because we have been eating from our very birth and will continue till death whereas one indulges in sexual pleasure only for a short period in every birth. Thus the control of the tongue means control of all the senses.
WHAT IS SVAAD/TASTE?
Mahatma Gandhi — ‘The real seat of taste was not the tongue but the mind’
Karmas are bound by our ‘tasting’ by the mind and not the tongue. If you have the reins of the horses under control, you can have a safe journey. The indriyas are the horses and they cannot do anything without the help of the mind, their master and commander. With viveka, the power of discrimination, the senses cannot tempt and deceive you. The following anecdote explains it well.
ANECTDOTE
A giant whale swims along with its jaws wide open eating any creatures that do not escape its teeth. A tiny little fish sees how many creatures do escape and tells itself that were it such a whale it would certainly not let so many creatures get away.
Jaina scriptures explaining this story claim that that even if the whale were to consume this large quantities of jiv for 1crore purvas (70,560 abaj years = 1 purva) the whale will be born in the fist naraki – hell. The small fish on the other hand who has not eaten any jiv with his tongue but with his mind he has, will be reborn in the seventh hell, the lowest of the hells in Jain cosmology. This is the power of the mind and its ability to bind karma.
NIRJARA
The main focus of the Ayambil aradhna is – ANASHAKTI YOG.
It is – ahar without ashakti – consume food by the body without the involvement of the senses and mind .
It is to strive to make all our actions (yog) that stem from – mind, speech and body (man, vachan and kaya) as pure as the lotus. The lotus is in the mud and not the mud is in the lotus. Food is required to be eaten. But taste not.
Eating food involves hinsa; all and any action does, but food without taste equals the bondage of NIDDHAT KARMA or low-intensity or loose karmas. This is the binding of Karmas dispassionately; our actions are not accompanied with deep emotions or attachment.
When we eat with our senses and mind – appreciating the tastes, we bind NIKACHIT KARMAS or high-intensity or strong karmas. This is the binding of Karmas passionately; our emotions and intentions get deeply attached with our actions.
Niddhat karmas can be shed or transformed without having to bear the consequences through Tapasya, Sadhana, Seva and various religious activities. However, in the case of Nikachit Karma, no Tapp, Sadhana or religious activity can help you get away or eliminate them. You HAVE TO bear the result of your past
As per Jain holy scriptures 1 Samyak AYAMBIL results in 10 billion years of karma nirjara. The fact of the lack of taste, of course, makes the austerity of an āyambil fast substantially greater than an ‘ekasana’ or one-sitting fast of ‘regular’ food.
AYAMBIL vs. UPVAS
Ayambil tap is different from Upvas tap. Upvas is the complete abstinence of food while Aysmbil is one meal of food but which is bland. Upvas is no food, while Ayambil is no taste. Upvas is thus a method of ‘suppression’ of the mind while Ayambil is an aradhna to ‘conquer’ the mind. The importance of Ayambil tap is highlighted by this scriptural account in the Shri Anuttaro Papadik Dashang Sutra –
When asked by Shrenik Maharaja to name the ‘best’ disciple among his 14,000 followers, Bhagwant Mahavir mentions – Dhanna Kakandi, and praises him for the most difficult tap undertaken by him. Popularly known as Dhanna Angar, he had done great penance of series of chhattha penance (two day fasts) with Ayambil. His penance was so great and hard that when he walked, his bones were making noise.
AYAMBIL – BEYOND ‘NOT EATING’
During Ayambil tap, not only the stomach, but also the tongue, eyes, ears, other limbs, and the heart and mind are equally obligated to be restrained. Just as we control our physical appetites, we also must control our negative emotions and actions.
The three organs of eyes, ears and tongue externalise the mind and make you altogether worldly. The object of sadhana is to internalise the mind by introspection, antar mukha vritti, and to realize the truth within. If you control the three organs of eyes, ears and tongue, then you can discipline the mind and prevent the mental energy from flowing externally.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF AYAMBIL
Ayambil tap is a science. It goes back to the time of Lord Rushabhadev. Beyond the purpose of attaining the Atma (Self), it is tremendously beneficial to the body as well. It serves to keep the body healthy.
It is wonderful for detoxification and cleansing, rests and balances the digestive system, the elimination of sugar controls diabetes, refraining from ghee and oil improves cholesterol related ailments; heart and cardiac, elimination of salt lowers blood pressure, improves kidney functioning, no dairy product improves sinusitis and respiratory diseases. Ayambil has also been known to improve skin health and cure skin diseases like vitiligo.
SPIRITUAL AIM OF THE TAP
Beyond the ‘restrictions, Jain Dharm, has a rich inner philosophy, a sophisticated way of viewing the world. When one looks at our contemporary society even without the explanations offered by Jaina philosophies, it is not difficult to understand that excesses of various kinds are the root of private and social troubles.
In Jain dharma it is believed that control of the senses means control of the mind and leads to attainment of infinite bliss and eternal life. By restraining the senses, (Rasa parityag) or consciously attaching and detaching the mind to and from the senses, one gains great control over the mind. When the indriyas give up objects, they are drawn into the mind.
Ayambil aradhna is the stepping-stone to inner spiritual life. Achieving a state that is devoid of taste is a big leap in one’s spiritual development towards attaining control over our wavering mind. If ras-parityag is perfected, all the organs are under perfect control.
In our day-to-day life, we cannot stop committing karmas. But a true seeker is always conscious about his actions and emotions. Consciously committing minimum wrong actions and nurturing the maximum right emotions is the key to bind the least Karma.

Michämi Dukaddam (apologies) for any errors and omissions. Data compiled from many Web sites Jain, Lectures & Books.
Shäshan Viruddha Känay Lakhäyu hoy to Man, Vachan and Kaya Thi Micchhämi Dukkadam.