Pratikramana is the Jain rite of repentance and self-review, a periodic examination of conscience in which the practitioner recalls the faults committed since the last such rite, confesses them, repents, and resolves against their repetition. The word means "turning back", a return from transgression toward one's true nature and toward the vows one has undertaken. Central to the rite is the asking of forgiveness from all living beings for any harm done to them, whether knowingly or unknowingly, and the granting of forgiveness to all in return, an act that flows directly from the Jain commitment to non-violence, ahimsa, toward every form of life.
Because even the most careful Jain cannot avoid all harm, walking, breathing and eating unavoidably injure minute living things, pratikramana serves as the regular cleansing of the soul from the subtle karmic matter that such unavoidable and avoidable faults accumulate. It is performed daily by the devout, morning and evening, and at longer intervals, the observance growing in fullness on the annual occasion of its greatest importance.