Mohini Ekadasi - 15th May 2008

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Mohini ekadasii

 

From kurma puran

 

 

 

15th may 2008

 

Sri yudhisthira maharaja said, " oh janardana, what is the name of the

ekadasii that occurs during the light fortnight (sukla paksha) of the

month of vaisakha (april-may) ? What is the process for observing it

properly? Kindly narrate all of these details to me.

 

 

 

The supreme personality of godhead, lord sri krishna replied, " oh

blessed son of dharma, what vasishtha muni once told to lord ramachandra

i shall now describe to you. Please hear me attentively.

 

 

 

" lord ramachandra asked vasishtha muni, 'oh great sage, i would like to

hear about the best of all fasting days that day which destroys all

kinds of sins and sorrows. I have suffered long enough in separation

from my dear sita, and so i wish to hear from you about how my suffering

can be ended.'

 

 

 

" the sage vasishtha replied, 'oh lord rama, oh you whose intelligence is

so keen, simply by remembering your name one can cross the ocean of the

material world. You have questioned me in order to benefit all of

humanity and fulfill everyone's desires. I shall now describe that day

of fasting which purifies the whole world.

 

 

 

'Oh rama, that day is known as vaisakha-sukla ekadasii, which falls on

dvadasii. It removes all sins and is famous as mohinii ekadasii. Truly,

oh dear rama, the merit of this ekadasii frees the fortunate soul who

observes it from the network of illusion. Therefore, if you want to

relieve your suffering(s), observe this auspicious ekadasii perfectly,

for it removes all obstacles from ones path and relieves the greatest

miseries. Kindly listen as i describe its glories, because for one who

even just hears about this auspicious ekadasii, the greatest sins are

nullified.

 

 

 

'On the banks of the sarasvati river there was once a beautiful city

named bhadravati, which was ruled by king dyutiman. Oh rama, that

steadfast, truthful, and highly intelligent king was born in the dynasty

of the moon (chandra-vamsa). In his kingdom was a merchant named

dhanapala, who possessed a great deal of wealth of food grains and

money. He was also very pious. Dhanapala arranged for lakes to be dug,

sacrificial arenas to be erected, and beautiful gardens to be cultivated

for the benefit of all the citizens of bhadravati. He was an excellent

devotee of lord vishnu and had five sons: sumana, dyutiman, medhavii,

sukriti, and dhrishthabuddhi.

 

 

 

'Unfortunately, his son dhrishthabuddhi always engaged in greatly sinful

activities, such as sleeping with prostitutes and associating with

similar degraded persons. He enjoyed illicit sex, gambling, and many

other varieties of acts aimed at gratifying the senses. He disrespected

the demigods (devas), the brahmins, the forefathers and other elders of

the community, as well as his family's guests. The evil-hearted

dhrishthabuddhi spent up his father's wealth indiscriminately, always

feasting on untouchable foods and drinking alcohol to excess.

 

 

 

'One day dhanapala kicked dhrishthabuddhi out of the house after he saw

him walking along the road arm-in-arm with a known prostitute. From then

on all dhrishthabuddhi's relatives were highly critical of him and

distanced themselves from him also. After he had sold all of his

inherited ornaments and become destitute, the prostitute also abandoned

him and insulted him because of his poverty.

 

 

 

'Dhrishthabuddhi was now full of anxiety, and also hungry. He thought,

" what should i do ? Where should i go ? How can i maintain myself ? He

then began to steal. The king's constables arrested him, but when they

learned who it was, and that his father was the famous dhanapala, they

released him. He was caught and released in this way many times. But at

last, sick of his arrogance and total disrespect for others, and their

property, the ill-mannered dhrishthabuddhi was apprehended, handcuffed,

and then beaten. After whipping him, the king's marshals warned him, " oh

evil minded one, there is no place for you in this kingdom.

 

 

 

'However, dhrishthabuddhi was freed from his tribulation by his father

and immediately thereafter entered the dense forest. He wandered here

and there, hungry and thirsty and suffering greatly. Eventually he began

killing the jungle animals, the lions, deer, boars, and even wolves for

food. Always ready in his hand was his bow, always on his shoulder was

his quiver full of arrows. He also killed many birds, such as chakoras,

peacocks, kankas, doves and pigeons. He unhesitatingly slaughtered many

species of birds and animals to maintain his sinful way of life, the

sinful results accumulating more and more each day. On account of his

previous sins, he was now immersed in an ocean of great sin that was so

relentless that it appeared that he could not get out.

 

 

 

 

 

'Dhrishthabuddhi was always miserable and anxious, but one day, during

the month of vaisakha, by the force of some of his past merit he chanced

upon the sacred ashrama of kaundinya muni. The great sage had just

finished bathing in the ganges river, and water was dripping from him

still. Dhrishthabuddhi had the great good fortune to touch some of those

droplets of water that were falling from the great sage's wet clothing.

Instantly dhrishthabuddhi was freed of his ignorance, and his sinful

reactions were reduced. Offering his humble obeisances to kaundinya

muni, dhrishthabuddhi prayed to him with joined palms; " oh great

brahmana, please describe to me some of the atonement i may perform

without too much endeavour. I have committed so many sins in my life,

and these have now made me very poor.

 

 

 

'The great rishi replied, " oh son, listen with great attention, for by

hearing me your life will change, and you will become free of all your

remaining sins. In the light fortnight of this very month, vaisakha

(april-may) there occurs the sacred mohinii ekadasii, which has the

power to nullify sins as vast and weighty as mount sumeru. If you follow

my advice and faithfully observe a fast on this ekadasii, which is so

dear to lord hari, you will be freed from all the sinful reactions of

many, many births.

 

 

 

'Hearing these words with great joy, dhrishthabuddhi promised to observe

a fast on mohinii ekadasii according to the sage's instructions and

direction. Oh best of kings, oh ramachandra bhagavan, by fasting

completely on mohinii ekadasii, the once sinful dhrishthabuddhi, the

prodigal son of the merchant dhanapala, became sinless. Afterwards he

achieved a beautiful transcendental form and, free at last of all

obstacles, rode upon the carrier of lord vishnu, garuda, to the supreme

abode of the lord.

 

 

 

'Oh ramachandra, the fast day of mohinii ekadasii removes the darkest

illusory attachments to material existence. There is thus no better fast

day in all the three worlds than this.'

 

 

 

lord sri krishna concluded, " and so, oh yudhishthira, there is no place

of pilgrimage, no sacrifice, and no charity that can bestow merit equal

to even one sixteenth of the merit a faithful devotee of mine obtains by

observing the mohinii ekadasii. And he who hears and studies the glories

of mohinii ekadasii achieves the merit of giving away one thousand cows

in charity.

 

 

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of vaisakha-sukla ekadasii, or

mohinii ekadasii, from the kurma purana.

 

 

 

Note: if the holy fast falls on dvadasii, it is still called ekadasii in

the vedic literature. Furthermore, in garuda purana (1:125.6), lord

brahma states to narada muni: " oh brahmana, this fast should be observed

when there is a full ekadasii, a mixture of ekadasii and dwadasii, or a

mixture of three (ekadasii, dwadasii, and trayodasii) but never on the

day when there is a mixture of dashami and ekadasii.

 

 

 

This is also upheld in the hari bhakti vilas, vaishnava smriti shastra,

and upheld by srila bhaktisiddhanta saraswati thakura prabhupad in his

navadwip panjika introduction.