MICCHAMI DUKKADAM! I APOLOGIZE FOR ANYTHING WRONG I MAY HAVE DONE

Micchami Dukkadam is a beautiful phrase which is used in Jain religion. It is celebrated on the last day of Paryushana, i.e(Samvatsari or Kshamavani). It is the most important annual holy event of the Jain calendar.

These holy words are also found in Airyapathiki Sutra. It literally means, “May all the evil that has been done be fruitless” which comes from the Prakrit language, a middle Indo-Aryan language, closely linked with Pali and used abundantly in Jainism.

Let us look closely at the phrase, Micchami Dukkadam. The Sanskrit phrase is mithya me duskritam. It means “May the evil done by me by in vain”. Or simply put “May my mistakes be undone”

“Forgive and forget”, is a beautiful phrase in the English language, which can be considered equivalent to this.

There will always be some actions that we perform or some words we speak which can hurt somebody whether emotionally or physically. However, we also know that most of these things are done without any evil intention. An arrow once it leaves the bow cannot be brought back, the same thing applies to our actions, once they are done they cannot be undone. We have to be aware of whatever we do and be accountable for our actions.

Harmful and evil deeds put a permanent scar on the brain of people. We need to develop a quality of forgiveness and universal brotherhood towards all.

When we speak the beautiful words Miccham Dukkadam, it is as if we are relieving ourselves from all the stress and negative feelings stored in our minds. We suddenly feel easy, relaxed, free, and also develop feelings of love and brotherhood.

We have to develop the quality of openness. There are people who are positive, easy to speak to, always smiling. These people have more power of forgiveness as they tend to ignore some of the unpleasant actions which others perform. And there are also people who are stubborn, don’t speak too much and are are very difficult to interact with. They don’t have much power of forgiveness.

To insult or harm anybody may not be that difficult, however, to forgive somebody requires a lot of courage.

The feelings of universal brotherhood are relevant even more today. Tensions across the borders, wars between nations, and bloodshed are destroying humanity. “Micchami Dukkadam”, is the only way.