The Story of Ekadasi / http://www.salagram.net/ekadasi-page.htm#Story%20of%20ekadasi

01-08-2006, 12:51 AM

Many devotees are very inquisitive about the appearance of Sri Ekadasi and about
her special characteristics. Therefore I am presenting this description from the
fourteenth chapter of the Padma Purana, from the section entitled
"Kriya-sagara-sara."
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 Ekadasi and the appearance of Ekadasi.
kasmad ekadasi 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 Ekadasi take birth and from whom did
she appear? What are the rules of fasting on the Ekadasi? Please describe the
benefits of following this vow and when it should be followed. Who is the
utmost worshippable presiding deity of Sri Ekadasi? What are the faults in not
following Ekadasi 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
Ekadasi 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 ekadasi 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 Ekadasi.'
Afterwards the different sinful living entities began to follow the vow of
Ekadasi and were then elevated quickly to the abode of Vaikuntha. Oh my child
Jaimini, therefore the lunar day of Ekadasi is the selfsame form of the Supreme
Lord, Vishnu, and the Supersoul within the heart of the living entities. Sri
Ekadasi is the utmost pios activity and is situated as the haed among all vows.
"Following the ascension of Sri Ekadasi, 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
Ekadasi, 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 Ekadasi. No type of pious activity can bind me. But Ekadasi only, being
Yourown manifested form, can impede me. Out of fear of Sri Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi. 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 Ekadasi. On the day of Ekadasi, 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi is freed from all sins and never
enters into hellish regions. If one doesn't follow Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi. I very strongly say again and again, 'On Ekadasi, 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 Ekadasi. From this
the perfection of varna and ashram will be attained. Especially since even if
one by trickery follows Ekadasi, all of his sin become destroyed and he very
easily attains the supreme goal, the abode of Vaikuntha." -- "...always look at
the positive side of things... " sri sathya sai
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