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Once the great sage Jaimini Rsi said
to his spiritual master Srila Vyasadeva, "Oh Gurudeva! Previously,
by your mercy, you described to me thehistory of the glories of the
Ganga river, the benefits of worshipping Vishnu, the giving of
grains in charity, the giving of water in charity, and the
magnanimity of drinking the water that has washed the feet of the
brahmanas. O best of the sages, Sri Gurudeva, now, with great
enthusiasm, I desire to hear the benefits of fasting on Ekadashi and
the appearance of Ekadashi.
kasmad ekadashi jata tasyah ko va
vidhir dvija
kada va kriyate kim va phalam kim va vadasva me
ka va pujyatama tatra devata sad-gunarnava
akurvatah syat ko dosa etan me vaktum arhasi
"Oh Gurudeva! When did Ekadashi take
birth and from whom did she appear? What are the rules of fasting on
the Ekadashi? Please describe the benefits of following this vow and
when it should be followed. Who is the utmost worshippable presiding
deity of Sri Ekadashi? What are the faults in not following Ekadashi
properly? Please bestow your mercyupon me and tell about these
subjects, as you are the only personality able to do so."
Srila Vyasadeva, upon hearing this
enquiry of Jaimini Rsi, became situated in transcendental bliss. "Oh
brahmana sage Jaimini! The results of following Ekadashi can only be
perfectly described by the Supreme Lord, Narayana, because Sri
Narayana is the only personality capable of describing them in full.
But I will give a very brief description in answer to your
question."
"At the beginning of the material creation, the Supreme Lord created
the moving and nonmoving living entities within this world made of
five gross material elements. Simultaneously, for the purpose of
punishing the humans beings, He created a personality whose form was
the embodiment of sin (Papapurusha). The different limbs of this
personality were constructed of the various sinful activities. His
head head was made of the sin of murdering a brahmana, his two eyes
were the form of the sin of drinking intoxicants, his mouth was made
of the sin of stealing gold, his ears were the form of the sin of
having illicit connection with the spiritual master's wife, his nose
of the sin of killing one's wife, his arms the form of the sin of
killing a cow, his neck made of the sin of stealing accumulated
wealth, his chest of the sin of abortion, his lower chest of the sin
of having sex with another's wife, his stomach of the sin of killing
one's relatives, his navel of the sin of killing those who are
dependent on him, his waist of the sin of self appraisal, his thighs
of the sin of offending the guru, his genital of the sin of selling
one's daughter, his buttocks of the sin of telling confidential
matters, his feet of the sin of killing one's father, and his hair
the form of lesser, less severe sinful activities. In this way, a
horrible personality embodying all the sinful activities and vices
was created. His bodily colour is black, and his eyes are yellow. He
inflicts extreme misery upon sinful persons."
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Lord Vishnu, upon seeing this personality of sin, began to think to
Himself as follows: 'I am the creator of the miseries and happiness
for the living entities. I am their master because I have created
this personality of sin, who gives distress to all dishonest,
deceitful, and sinful persons. Now I must create someone who will
control this personality.' At this time Sri Bhagavan created the
personality known as Yamaraj and the different hellishj planetary
systems. Those living entities who are very sinful will be sent
after death to Yamaraj, who will in turn, according to their sins,
send them tom a hellish region to suffer.
"After these adjustments had been
made, the Supreme Lord, who is the giver of distress and happiness
to the living entities, went to the house of Yamaraj, with the help
of Garuda, theking of birds. When Yamaraj saw that Lord Vishnu had
arrived, he immediately washed His feet and made an offering unto
Him. He then had Him sit upon a golden throne. The Supreme Lord,
Vishnu, became seated on the throne, whereupon He heard very loud
crying sounds coming from the southern direction. He became
surprised by this and thus enquired from Yamaraj, 'From where is
this loud crying coming?' "Yamaraj in reply said, 'Oh Deva! The
different living entities of the earthly planetary systems have
fallen into the hellish regions. They are suffering extremely for
their misdeeds. The horrible crying is because of suffering from the
inflictions of their past bad karma (actions).'
"After hearing this the Supreme Lord,
Vishnu, went to the hellish region to the south. When the
inhabitants saw who had come they began to cry even louder. The
heart of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, became filled with compassion.
Lord Vishnu thought to Himself, 'I have created all this progeny,
and it is because of Me thatthey are suffering.'" Srila Vyasadeva
continued: "Oh Jaimini, just listen to what the Supreme Lord did
next.
etac canyac ca viprarse
vicintya karunamayah
babhuva sahasa tatra
svayam ekadashi tithih
'After the merciful Supreme Lord
thought over what He had previously considered, He suddenly
manifested from His own form the deity of the lunar day Ekadashi.'
Afterwards the different sinful living entities began to follow the
vow of Ekadashi and were then elevated quickly to the abode of
Vaikuntha. Oh my child Jaimini, therefore the lunar day of Ekadashi
is the selfsame form of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, and the Supersoul
within the heart of the living entities. Sri Ekadashi is the utmost
pios activity and is situated as the haed among all vows.
"Following the ascension of Sri
Ekadashi, that personality who is the form of the sinful activity
gradually saw the influence she had. He approached Lord Vishnu with
doubts in his heart and began offering many prayers, whereupon Lord
Vishnu became very pleased and said, ' I have become very pleased by
your nice offerings. What boon is it that you want?'
"The Papapurusha replied, 'I am your
created progeny, and it is through me that you wanted distress given
to the living entities who are very sinful. But now, by the
influence of Sri Ekadashi, I have become all but destroyed. Oh
Prabhu! After I die all of Your parts andparcels who have accepted
material bodies will become liberated and therefore return to the
abode of Vaikuntha. If this liberation of all living entities takes
place, then who will carry on Your activities? There will be no one
to enact the pastimes in the earthly planetary systems! Oh Keshava!
If You want these eternal pastimes to carry on, then You please save
me from the fear of Ekadashi. No type of pious activity can bind me.
But Ekadashi only, being Yourown manifested form, can impede me. Out
of fear of Sri Ekadashi I have fled and taken shelter of men;
animals; insects; hills; trees; moving and nonmoving living
entities; rivers; oceans; forests; heavenly, earthly, and hellish
planetary systems; demigods; and the Gandarvas. I cannot find a
place where I can be free from fear of Sri Ekadashi. Oh my Master! I
am a product of Your creation, so therefore very mercifully direct
me to a place where I can reside fearlessly.'"
Srila Vyasadeva then said to Jaimini,
"After saying this, the embodiment of all sinful activities (Papapurusha)
fell down at the feet of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, who is the
destroyer of all miseries and began to cry.
"After this, Lord Vishnu, observing
the condition of the Papapurusha with laughter, began to speak thus:
'Oh Papapurusha! Rise up! Don't lament any longer. Just listen, and
I'll tell you where you can stay on the auspicious lunar day of
Ekadashi. On the day of Ekadashi, which is the benefactor of the
three worlds, you can take shelter of foodstuff in the form of
grains. There is no reason to worry about this any more, because My
form as Sri Ekadashi Devi will no longer impede you.' After giving
direction to the Papapurusha, the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, disappeared
and the Papapurusha returned to the performance of his own
activities.
"Therefore those persons who are
serious about the ultimate benefit for the soul will never eat
grains on the Ekadashi tithi. According to the instructions of Lord
Vishnu, every kind of sinful activity that can be found in the
material world takes its residence in this place of foodstuff
(grain). Whoever follows Ekadashi is freed from all sins and never
enters into hellish regions. If one doesn't follow Ekadashi because
of illusion, he is still considered the utmost sinner. For every
mouthful of grain that is eaten by a resident of the earthly region,
one receives the effect of kiling millions of brahmanas. It is
definately necessary that one give up eating grains on Ekadashi. I
very strongly say again and again, 'On Ekadashi, don't eat grains,
don't eat grains, don't eat grains!' Whether one be a ksatriya,
vaisya, shudra, or of any family, he should follow the lunar day of
Ekadashi. From this the perfection of varna and ashram will be
attained. Especially since even if one by trickery follows Ekadashi,
all of his sin become destroyed and he very easily attains the
supreme goal, the abode of Vaikuntha."
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