Kamika Ekadashi -9th Aug

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Kamika Ekadashi

 

 

from Brahma-Vaivarta Puran

 

 

9th Aug 2007

 

 

 

 

 

The saintly king Yudhisthira maharaj said, " Oh

Supreme Lord, I have heard from You the glories of fasting on Deva-sayani

EkAdasii, which occurs during the light fortnight of the month of

Ashadha. Now I would like to hear from You the glories of the Ekadasii that

occurs during the dark fortnight (krishna paksha) of the month of Shravana

(July -August). Oh Govindadeva, please be merciful to me and explain its

glories. Oh Supreme Vasudeva, I offer my most humble obeisances unto You.

 

 

 

The Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, replied, " Oh King, please listen

attentively as I describe the auspicious influence of this Holy fast (vrata)

day, which removes all sins. Narada Muni once asked Lord Brahma about this same

topic. 'Oh regent of all beings,' said Naradji, 'Oh you who sit upon a water

born lotus throne, please tell me the name of the Ekadasii that occurs during

the dark fortnight of the sacred month of Shravana. Please also tell me which

Deity is to be worshipped on that Holy day, the process one must follow to

observe it, and the merit it awards.'

 

 

 

Lord Brahma replied, 'My dear son Narada, for the benefit of all humanity I

shall happily tell you everything you wish to know, for just hearing the

glories of the Kamika Ekadasii bestows merit equal to that obtained by one who

performs a horse sacrifice. Certainly, great merit is attained by one who

worships, and who also meditates on the lotus feet of the four-armed Lord

Gadadhara,

who holds conchshell, disc, club and lotus in His hands and who is also known

as Shridhara, Hari, Vishnu, Madhava, and MadhusUdana. And the blessings

achieved by such a person / devotee, who worships Lord Vishnu exclusively are

far

greater than those achieved by one who takes a sacred bath in the Ganges at

Kashi

(Varanasii), in the forest of Naimisharanya, or at Pushkara, which is the only

place on the planet where I am formally worshipped. But one who observes this

Kamika

Ekadasii and also worships Lord Shri Krishna achieves greater merit than one

who has darshan of Lord Kedaranatha in the Himalayas, or one who bathes

at Kurukshetra during a solar eclipse, or one who donates the whole Earth in

charity, including its forests and oceans, or one who bathes in the Gandaki

River (where the sacred Shaligrams are found) or the GodAvari River on a full

moon (purnima) day that falls on a Monday when Leo (Simha) and Jupiter

(Guru) are conjoined (conjunct).

 

 

 

'Observing Kamika Ekadasi bestows the same merit as donating a milk-cow and her

auspicious calf, along with their feed. On this all auspicious day, whosoever

worships Lord Sri Shridhara-deva, Vishnu, is glorified by all the devas,

Gandharvas, Pannagas, and Nagas.

 

 

 

'Those who are afraid of their past sins and completely immersed in sinful

materialistic life should at least observe this best of Ekadasiis according to

their ability and thus attain liberation. This Ekadasii is the purest of all

days and the most powerful for removing sins of the native. Oh Narad ji, Lord

Shri Hari Himself once said about this EkAdasii, " One who fasts on Kamika

Ekadasi attains much more merit than one who studies all the spiritual

literatures.

 

 

 

'Anyone who fasts on this particular day remains awake throughout the night

will never experience the anger of Yamaraja, the king of death personified. It

has been seen that whoever observes Kamika Ekadasi will not have to suffer

future births, and in the past too, many Yogis of devotion who fasted on this

day went to the spiritual world. One should therefore follow in their

auspicious footsteps and strictly observe a fast on this most auspicious of

EkAdasiis.

 

 

 

'Whosoever worships Lord Shri Hari with Tulasi leaves is freed from all

implication of sin. Indeed, he lives untouched by sin, as the lotus leaf,

although in the water, is untouched by it. Whosoever offers Lord Shri Hari but

a single leaf from the sacred Tulasi tree (occillium basilcum sanctum) attains

as much merit as one who gives away in charity two hundred grams of gold and

eight hundred grams of silver. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is more

pleased by one who offers Him a single Tulasi leaf than by one who worships Him

with pearls, rubies, topaz, diamonds, lapis lazuli, sapphires, gomeda stones

(gomaz), cat's eye gems, and coral. One who offers Lord Keshava newly grown

manjari

buds from the Tulasi plant gets rid of all the sins he has committed during

this or any other lifetime. Indeed, mere darshana of Tulasi on Kamika Ekadasi

removes

all sins, and merely touching her and praying to her removes all kinds of

disease. One who waters Tulasi devi need never fear the Lord of death,

YamarAja. One who plants or transplants Tulasi on this days will eventually

reside with Lord Shri Krishna in His own abode. To Srimati Tulasi devi, who

awards liberation in devotional service, one should therefore daily offer one's

full obeisances.

 

 

 

'Even Chitragupta, Yamaraja's secretary, cannot calculate the merit obtained by

one who offers Shrimati Tulasi-devi a perpetually burning ghee lamp. So dear is

this sacred EkAdasii to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that all the

forefathers of one who offers a bright ghee lamp to Lord Shri Krishna on this

day ascend to the heavenly planets and drink the celestial nectar there.

Whoever offers a ghee or sesame oil lamp to Shri Krishna on this day is freed

from all his sins and enters the abode of Surya, the Sun-god, with a body as

bright as ten million lamps. This Ekadasii is so powerful that if one who is

unable to fast simply follows the practices as mentioned herein, s/he is

elevated to the heavenly planets, along with all their forefathers.

 

 

 

'Oh Maharaj Yudhisthira, Lord Shri Krishna concluded, " ...these were the

words of prajapathi Brahma to his son Narad Muni concerning the incalculable

glories of this Kamika Ekadasi, which removes all sins. This sacred day

nullifies

even the sin of killing a brahmana or the sin of killing an unborn child in the

womb, and it promotes one to the spiritual world by making one supremely

meritorious.

 

 

 

One who kills the innocent, i.e., a brahmin (brAhmaNa), a child in the womb, a

pious and spotless woman, etc., and then later hears about the glories of Kamika

Ekadasi will be relieved of the reaction to one's sins. However, one should NOT

think beforehand that one can kill a Brahmin or other innocent folk and then go

unpunished simply by hearing of this EkAdasii. Such knowing commission of sin

is an abomination.

 

 

 

Whosoever hears these glories of the Kamika Ekadasi with faith becomes free of

all sins and returns home, back to Godhead - Vishnu-loka, Vaikuntha.

 

 

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of the Shravana-krshna Ekadasii, or

Kamika

Ekadasi, from the Brahma-Vaivarta PurANa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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