Sri Daalbhya Rishi said to Palastya Muni, "When the spirit soul comes in contact with the material energy, he immediately begins to perform sinful activities, such as stealing, killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform many other terrible deeds, such as killing a brahmin. Oh purest of personalities, please tell me how these unfortunate souls may escape the punishment of being sent to hellish regions of creation. Kindly inform me how, by giving even a little in charity, one may be easily released from the reactions of his sins."
Pulastya Muni replied, "Oh fortunate one, you have asked me an important
and confidential question, which not even Brahmaa, Vishnu, Shiva or Indra
has ever asked. Please listen very carefully to my answer.
"With the arrival of the month of Magh (January
- February), one should bathe, carefully control his senses by giving up
lust, anger, pride, jealousy, faultfinding, and greed, and meditate on
the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. One should then gather
up some cow dung before it touches the ground and, after mixing it with
sesame seeds and cotton, form 108 balls. This should be done on the day
when the constellation of Purva-ashadha
nakshatra arrives. then one should follow the rules and regulations
of Sri Ekaadasii, which I shall now explain to you.
"After bathing, the person who intends to observe
Ekaadasii should worship the Supreme Lord. While praying to Lord Sri Krishna
by chanting His holy name, he should promise
to observe the Ekaadasii fast. He should remain awake overnight and perform
a homa (fire sacrifice). Then the devotee should perform an Arati
ceremony for the pleasure of the Lord - Who holds a conch, disk, club,
and so on in His hands - offering Him sandalwood paste to his feet, incense,
camphor, a bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations. Next the
devotee should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and cotton
wool into the sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the Lord as
Purusha sukta, and other names. Throughout the whole day and night he should
also observe the standard Ekaadasii vrata (fast, which in this case is
a fast from all kinds of grains and beans). On this occasion one should
offer the Lord pumpkin, coconut, and guava. If these items are unavailable,
betel nut may be substituted.
"The devotee should pray to Lord Sri Janardana,
the benefactor of all living beings, in this way; 'Oh Lord Sri Krishna,
You are the most merciful Personality of Godhead and the giver of liberation
to all fallen souls. Oh Lord, we have fallen into the ocean of material
existence. Please be kind to us. Oh lotus-eyed divinity, please accept
our most humble, affectionate and respectful obeisances. Oh protector of
the entire world, we offer You our humble respects again and again. Oh
Supreme Spirit, Oh Supreme One, Oh source of all our forefathers, may You
and Your eternal consort, Srimati Laxmi-devi,
please accept these humble offerings.'
"The devotee should then try to please a qualified
brahmin with a warm welcome, a pot full of water (purna kumbha), an umbrella,
a pair of shoes, and clothes (cloth - dhoti, and anga vaastra), requesting
him at the same time to bestow his blessings, by which one may develop
unalloyed love for Lord Sri Krishna. According to one's ability, one may
also donate a black cow to such a brahmin, particularly to one who is very
well versed in all the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures. One should
also offer him a pot full of sesame seeds.
"Oh exalted Daalbhya Muni, black sesame seeds
are especially suitable for formal worship and fire sacrifices while white
or brown ones are meant to be eaten by a qualified brahmin. One who can
arrange to give both kinds of sesame seeds (black and white or brown) especially
on this Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii day will be promoted to at least the heavenly
planets after leaving this present body, for as many thousands of years
as the number of seeds that would be produced if the seeds he donated were
sown in the ground and grew into mature, seed bearing plants.
"On this Ekaadasii a faithful person should (1)
bathe in the water mixed with sesame seeds, (2) rub sesame seed paste on
his body, (3) offer sesame seeds into the fire in sacrifice, (4) eat sesame
seeds, (5) give sesame seeds away in charity, (6) accept charitable gifts
of sesame seeds. These are the six (sat) ways in which sesame seeds (tilaa)
are utilised for spiritual purification on this Ekaadasii. Therefore it
is called Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii.
"The great Devarishi Naarad Muni once asked the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, 'Oh mighty armed Lord, Oh
You who are so affectionate to Your loving devotees, please accept my most
humble obeisances. Oh Yaadava, kindly tell me the result one obtains by
observing Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii.'
"Lord Sri Krishna replied, 'Oh best of the twice
born brahmins, I shall narrate to you an account of an incident I personally
witnessed. Long ago on earth there lived an old female brahmini who worshipped
Me every day with controlled senses. She very faithfully observed many
a fast, especially on special days honouring Me (My various appearance
days Janmaasthami, Rama-navami,
Vaman
Dwadasi, Nrisimha Chaturdasi, Varaha
Dwadasi, Gaura Purnima, etc. - Calendar)
and served Me with full devotion, devoid of any personal motive. Her rigorous
fasting made her quite weak and thin. She gave charity to brahmanas and
to young maidens (kanyas), and even planned to give away her house in charity.
Oh best of the brahmanas although this spiritually minded woman gave charitable
donations to worthy people, the odd feature of her austerity was that she
never gave food to brahmanas or the devas (demigods).
"'I began to reflect on this curious omission:
"This fine woman has purified herself by fasting on all the auspicious
occasions and by offering Me strict devotional worship. Therefore
she certainly has become eligible to enter My personal abode, which is
unattainable by ordinary persons." So I came down to this planet
to examine her, disguising Myself as a follower of Lord Shiva's, complete
with a garland of skulls draped around My neck and a begging pot (kumandalu)
in My hand.
"'As I approached her, she said toMe, "Oh respectful
one, tell me truthfully why You have come before me."
"'I replied, "Oh beautiful one, I have come to get
some sacred alms from you" - whereupon she angrily threw a dense lump of
mud into My begging pot! Oh Naarada Muni I simply turned around and
went back to My personal abode, astonished at this fine brahmani's peculiar
mixture of great magnanimity and stinginess.
"'At last this austere lady reached the spiritual
world in her self-same body, so great were her efforts at fasting and charity.
And because she had indeed offered Me a lump of mud, I transformed that
mud into a beautiful home. However, Oh Naradaji, this particular
house was just like that mud completely devoid of any edible grains, as
well as any furniture or ornamentation, and when she entered it she found
only an empty structure. She therefore approached Me and said with
great anger, "I have fasted repeatedly on so many auspicious occasions,
making my body weak and thin. I have worshipped You and prayed to
You in so many different ways for You are truly the master and protector
of all the universes. Yet despite all this there is no food or wealth
to be seen in my new home, Oh Janardana, please tell me. Why is this?"
"'I replied, "Please return to your house.
Sometime later the wives of the devas (demigods) will pay you a visit out
of curiosity to see the new arrival, but do not open your door until they
have described to you the glories and importance of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii."
"'Hearing this, she returned to her house.
Eventually the devas' wives arrived there and in unison said, "Oh beautiful
one, we have come to have your darshan. Oh auspicious one, please
open the doorto your house and let us see you.
"'The lady replied, "Oh most dear ones, if you want
me to open this door, you will have to describe to me the merit one obtains
by observing the sacred fast of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii." But to this
request, not even one of the wives responded.
"'Later, however, they returned to the house, and
one of the wives nicely explained the sublime nature of this sacred Ekaadasii.
And when the lady at last opened her door, they saw that she was neither
a demigoddess, a Gandharvi, a she-demon, nor even a Naga-patni. She
was simply an ordinary human lady.
"'From then on the lady observed Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii,
which awards ALL material enjoyment and liberation at the same time, as
it has been described to her. And she finally received the beautiful
furnishings and grains she had expected for her home. Moreover, her
once ordinary material body was transformed into a beautiful spiritual
form made of sac-cid-ananda (eternality, knowledge,and bliss), with a fine
complexion. So, by the mercy and grace of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, both
the lady and her new home in the spiritual world were at last radiantly
splendid and lustrous with gold, silver, jewels, and diamonds.
"'Oh Naradaji, a person should not ostentatiously
observe Ekaadasii out of greed, with the hope of attaining wealth dishonestly.
Selflessly, he should simply donate sesame seed, clothes, and food according
to his capacity, for by doing so he will achieve good health and exalted
spiritual consciousness, birth after birth. Ultimately, he will begiven
release from the bonds of this world (liberation) and admittance into the
Lord's supreme abode will be his to enjoy. That is my opinion, Oh
best of the demigods deva-rishis).'
"Oh Daalbhya Muni," Pulastya Rishi concluded, "one
who properly observes this wonderful Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii with great faith
become free from all kinds of poverty - spiritual, mental, physical, social,
and intellectual - as well as all kinds of ill luck and evil omens (sakuna).
Indeed, following this Ekaadasii fast by donating, sacrificing, or eating
sesame seeds frees one of all past sin, without a doubt. One need not wonder
how this happens. The rare soul who properly performs these acts
of charity in the right devotional mood, following the Vedic injunctions,
will become utterly free of all sinful reactions and go back to Godhead,
back home to the spiritual world."
Thus ends the narration of the glories of Magh-krishna
Ekaadasii, or Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii,
from the sacred Bhavishya-uttara Purana of Srila Krishna Dwaipayana
Vyaasa.
These stories have been summarised and slightly changed or abbreviated from how they are found in the celebrated book, "Ekadasi: The Day of Lord Hari" 1986. HH Krishna Balaram Swami. Bhaktivedanta Institute Press. pages 39-44.
(the above excerpt is used with permission)
The Ekadashi Book is now available in its entirety -free to download
with our blessing at http://www.krsna.org
Entire book acknowledged to Mahamandelswar Mahant Krsna Balaram Swami
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