In Jainism, fasting(anaśana) is not only a religious ritual, but an ideal way of life.
In this paper, I tried to explore the relation of food and desire, karma and purification clear focusing on the fasting ritual of Jainism. My research materials are Jaina Sūtra, that is, Sthānāṃga sūtra, Uttarādhyayana sūtra, Tattvārtha sūtra, Kalpa sūtra, and Buddhist Sūtra and Vinaya literature.
In Jaina tradition, fasting is characterized by two sides : asceticism and ritual forms. How long did the fasting, which has been excluded from practicing in Buddhist tradition, continue to exist in Jainism, in a very diverse way? It is closely related to the karma theory of philosophical system of Jainism.
Jaina analyzed the desire to eat as a form of karma. And jīva(soul) is contaminated by karma. The process of contamination of soul is closely linked to the food flowing into the body.
As a result, Jaina carried out fasting as their duties very strictly. There are many ritual fasting, for example, paryūṣaṇa mahāparvan, daśalakṣaṇa parvan, poṣadha-pratimā, ekāśana, vrata. Paryūṣaṇa is the most famous and important ritual for fasting in Jainism.