Ekadasi Alert: Fri, 26th March 2010

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Kamada Ekadasi

From Varaha Puran

 

Date : Fri, 26th March 2010 Breakfast  :  06:19 AM - 10:23 AM Next day ***

----------- Sri SUta GoswAmi said, " Oh sages, let me

offer my humble and respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Hari,

Bhagavan Sri Krishna, the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, by whose mercy I

can describe the fast day that removes all kinds of sins. It was to the

devoted Yudhisthira that Lord Krishna glorified the twenty-four primary

EkAdasiis, which destroy sin, and now I shall recount one of those

narrations to you. Great-learned sages have selected these twenty-four

narrations from the eighteen PurANas, for they are truly sublime. 

 

Yudhishthira MahArAja said, 'Oh Lord Krishna, Oh VAsudeva, please

accept my humble obeisances. Please describe to me the EkAdasii that

occurs during the light part of the month of Chaitra [March-April].

What is its name, and what are its glories?' 

 

Lord Sri Krishna replied, 'Oh Yudhishthira, please listen to Me

attentively as I relate the ancient history of this sacred EkAdasii, a

history Vasishtha Muni once related to King Dilipa, the

great-grandfather of Lord RAmachandra. 

 

King Dilipa asked the great sage Vasishtha, " Oh wise brAhmana, I wish

to hear about the EkAdasii that comes during the light part of the

month of Chaitra. Please describe it to me. "

 

Vasishtha Muni replied, " Oh king, your inquiry is glories. Gladly shall

I tell you what you wish to know. The EkAdasii that occurs during the

light fortnight of Chaitra is named KAmadA EkAdasii. It consumes all

sins, as a forest fire consumes a supply of dry firewood. It is very

purifying, and it bestows the highest merit upon one who faithfully

observes it. Oh king, now hear an ancient history which is so

meritorious that it removes all one's sins simply by being heard. 

 

Once, long ago, there existed a city-state named Ratnapura, which was

decorated with gold and jewels and in which sharp-fanged snakes would

enjoy intoxication. King Pundarika was the ruler of this most beautiful

kingdom, which numbered many Gandharvas, Kinnaras, and ApsarAs among

its citizens. 

 

Among the Gandharvas were Lalita and his wife LalitA, who was an

especially lovely dancer. These two were intensely attracted to each

other, and their home was full of great wealth and fine food. LalitA

loved her husband dearly, and likewise he constantly thought of her

within his heart. 

 

Once, at the court of King Pundarika, many Gandharvas were dancing and

Lalita was singing alone, without his wife. He could not help thinking

about her as he sang, and because of this distraction he lost track of

the song's meter and melody. Indeed, Lalita sang the ending of his song

improperly, and one of the envious snakes who was in attendance at the

king's court complained to the king that Lalita was absorbed in

thinking of his wife instead of his sovereign. the king became furious

upon hearing this, and his eyes turned crimson with rage. Suddenly he

shouted, 'Oh foolish knave, because you were lustfully thinking of a

woman instead of reverently thinking of your king as you performed your

court duties, I curse you to at once become a cannibal!

 

Oh king, Lalita immediately became a fearful cannibal, a great

man-eating demon whose appearance terrified everyone. His arms were

eight miles long, his mouth was as big as a huge cave, his eyes were as

awesome as the sun and moon, his nostrils resembled enormous pits in

the earth, his neck was a veritable mountain, his hips were four miles

wide, and his gigantic body stood a full sixty-four miles high. Thus

poor Lalita, the loving Gandharva singer, had to suffer the reaction of

his offense against King Pundarika. 

 

Seeing her husband suffering as a horrible cannibal, LalitA became

overwhelmed with grief. She thought, 'Now that my dear husband is

suffering the effects of the kings' curse, what is to be my lot? What

should I do? Where should I go?' In this way LalitA grieved day and

night. Instead of enjoying life as a Gandharvas wife, she had to wander

everywhere in the thick jungle with her monstrous husband, who had

fallen completely under the spell of the king's curse and was wholly

engaged in terrible sinful activities. He wandered fitfully across

forbidding region, a once-beautiful Gandharva now reduced to the

ghastly behaviour of a man-eater. Utterly distraught to see her dear

husband suffer so much in his dreadful condition, LalitA began to cry

as she followed his mad journeying. 

 

By good fortune, however, LalitA came upon the sage Shringi one day. He

was sitting on the peak of the famous VindhyAchala Hill. Approaching

him, she immediately offered the ascetic her respectful obeisances. The

sage noticed her bowing down before him and said, 'Oh most beautiful

one, who are you? Whose daughter are you, and why have you come here?

Please tell me everything in truth.

 

LalitA replied, 'Oh great age, I am the daughter of the great Gandharva

ViradhanvA, and my name is LalitA. I roam the forests and plains with

my dear husband, whom King Pundarika has cursed to become a man-eating

demon. Oh brAhmana, I am greatly aggrieved to see his ferocious form

and terribly sinful activities. Oh master, please tell me how I can

perform some act of atonement on behalf of my husband. What pious act

can I perform to free him from this demonic form, Oh best of brAhmanas?

 

'The sage replied, 'Oh heavenly maiden, there is an EkAdasii named

KAmadA that occurs in the light fortnight of the month of Chaitra. It

is coming up soon. Whoever fasts on this day has all his desires

fulfilled. If you observe this EkAdasii fast according to its rules and

regulations and give the merit you thus earn to your husband, he will

be freed from the curse at once.' LalitA was overjoyed to hear these

words from the sage. 

 

Lalita faithfully observed the fast of KAmadA EkAdasii according to the

instructions of the sage Shringi, and on DvAdasi she appeared before

him and the Deity of Lord VAsudeva and said, 'I have faithfully

observed the fast of KAmadA EkAdasii. By the merit earned through my

observance of this fast, let my husband be free from the curse that has

turned him into a demoniac cannibal. May the merit I have gained thus

free him from misery.' 

 

As soon as LalitA finished speaking, her husband, who stood nearby, was

at once freed from the king's curse. He immediately regained his

original form as the Gandharva Lalita, a handsome heavenly singer

adorned with many beautiful ornaments. Now, with his wife LalitA, he

could enjoy even more opulence than before. All this was accomplished

by the power and glory of KAmadA EkAdasii. At last the Gandharva couple

boarded a celestial airplane and ascended to heaven.

 

Lord Sri Krishna continued, 'Oh Yudhishthira, best of kings, anyone who

hears this wonderful narration should certainly observe holy KAmadA

EkAdasii to the best of his ability, such great merit does it bestow

upon the faithful devotee. I have therefore described its glories to

you for the benefit of all humanity. 

 

There is no better EkAdasii than KAmadA EkAdasii. It can eradicate even

the sin of killing a brAhmana, and it also nullifies demoniac curses

and cleanses the consciousness. In all the three worlds, among movable

and immovable living entities, there is no better day'--

*** Date and breakfast timing is mentioned for Bangalore city (India). Please visit nearest ISKCON temple for date and breakfast timing.