Chapter Eight Yajṣā-sītopākhyāna ekādaśī-māhātmya In the Story of the Yajṣa-sītās, the Glories of Ekādaśī

Srī Nārada said: O king of Mithilā, please hear the story of the yajṣa-sītās that beame gopīs, a sacred and auspicious story that fulfills all desires and removes all sins.

In the south is a country named Uśīnara, where for ten years it did not rain.

Fearful that it would never rain, the wealthy gopas there traveled, with their families and cows, to the circle of Vraja.

O king, with the help of King Nanda, they made their homes in beautiful and sacred Vṛndāvana by the shore of the beautiful Yamunā.

The yajṣa-sītās, who had recieved a blessing from Lord Rāmacandra, took birth in their homes as beautiful gopīs decorated with splendid youthfulness.

O king of kings, when they saw handsome Lord Kṛṣṇa, they becamne bewildered with love for Him. To ask what vow they might follow to attain Kṛṣṇa's mercy, they approached Srī Rādhā.

The gopīs said: O Rādhā, O beautiful, lotus-eyed daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, please tell us what vow we may follow to attain Lord Kṛṣṇa's favor.

O Rādhā, You have made Lord Kṛṣṇa, whom even the great demigods cannot approach, into Your submissive servant. You are the most beautiful girl in all the worlds. You have crossed to the farther shore of the deep meaning of all the scriptures.

Srī Rādhā said: To attain Lord Kṛṣṇa's mercy you should follow the vow of fasting on ekādaśī. In that way You will make Lord Kṛṣṇa into your submissive servant. Of this there is no doubt.

The gopīs said: O Rādhā, please tell us the names of the different ekādaśīs throughout the year. Month after month, how should the different ekādaśīs be observed?

Srī Rādhā said: During the dark fortnight of the month of Mārgaśīrṣa (November-December), in order to kill the demon Mura, the holy day of ekādaśī was born from the body of Lord Viṣṇu.

Desiring your welfare, I will tell you the names of the twenty-six most sacred ekādaśīs that appear in the differnet months.

Their names are: 1. utpatti, 2. mokṣā, 3. sa-phalā, 4. putradā, 5. ṣaṭ-tilā, 6. jayā, 7. vijayā, . . .

. . . 8. āmalakī, 9. pāpa-mocanī, 10. kāmadā, 11. varūthinī, . . .

. . . 12. mohinī, 13. aparā, 14. nirjalā, 15. yoginī, 16. deva-śayanī, 17. kāminī, . . .

. . . 18. pavitrā, 19. ajā, 20. padmā, 21. indirā, 22. pāśāṅkuśā, 23. ramā, 24. prabodhinī.

There are also two more ekādaśīs, both named sarva-sampat-pradā, during the extra month of leap-year. In this way there are twenty-six ekādaśīs in all. A person who chants the names of these twenty-six ekādaśīs attains the result of following ekādaśī for one year.

O girls of Vraja, please hear the rules for observing ekādaśī. On ekādaśī one should control the senses and sleep on the ground. On dvādaśī one should eat only once.

During ekādaśī one should be pure-hearted and very clean, wear clean garments, drink water only once, rise for brāhma-muhūrta, and bow down to Lord Kṛṣṇa

Bathing with well-water is an inferior kind of bath. Bathing in a pond is better, bathing in a lake is better than that, and bathing in a river is better still.

In this way one should bathe. On ekādaśī day one should be free of greed and anger, and one should not talk to sinful people, atheists, and offenders.

para-dravyāpahārāṁś ca para-dārābhigāminaḥ durvṛttān bhinna-maryādān nālapet sa vratī naraḥ mithyā-vāda-ratān—to liers; ca—and; eva—certainly; tathā—so; brāhmaṇa-nindakān—to they who have offended brāhmaṇas; anyān—to others; ca—and; eva—indeed; durācārān—misbehaved; agamya-āgamane—to illicit sex; ratān—attached; para—of others; dravya—the property; apahārān—stealing; ca—and; para—of others; dāra—the wives; abhigāminaḥ—approasching; durvṛttān—wicked; bhinna-maryādān—who break the rules of morality; na—not; ālapet—should talk; sa—he; vratī—following the vow; naraḥ—a person. A person who follows the vow of ekādaśī should not talk to liers, offenders of brāhmaṇas, sinners, debauchees, thieves, adulterers, and the ill-behaved and immoral.

para-dravyāpahārāṁś ca para-dārābhigāminaḥ durvṛttān bhinna-maryādān nālapet sa vratī naraḥ mithyā-vāda-ratān—to liers; ca—and; eva—certainly; tathā—so; brāhmaṇa-nindakān—to they who have offended brāhmaṇas; anyān—to others; ca—and; eva—indeed; durācārān—misbehaved; agamya-āgamane—to illicit sex; ratān—attached; para—of others; dravya—the property; apahārān—stealing; ca—and; para—of others; dāra—the wives; abhigāminaḥ—approasching; durvṛttān—wicked; bhinna-maryādān—who break the rules of morality; na—not; ālapet—should talk; sa—he; vratī—following the vow; naraḥ—a person. A person who follows the vow of ekādaśī should not talk to liers, offenders of brāhmaṇas, sinners, debauchees, thieves, adulterers, and the ill-behaved and immoral.

In the home one should, with devotion in the heart, worship Lord Kṛṣṇa, and offer Him food and a lamp.

From the brāhmaṇas one should hear the stories of Lord Kṛṣṇa. One should offer dakṣiṇā to them. One should keep a vigil, singing the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa throughout the night.

viṣṇu-vrate tu kartavye daśamyāṁ daśa varjayet dyūtaṁ krīḍāṁ ca nidrāṁ ca tāmbūlaṁ danta-dhāvanam kāṁsyam—brass utensils; māṁsam—meat; masūrān—masura dal; ca—and; kodravam—kodrava; caṇakam—chick-peas; tathā—so; śākam—vegetables; madhu—honey; parānnam—the food of others; ca—and; punaḥ—again; bhojana—eating; maithunam—sex; viṣṇu-vrate—when the vow of ekādaśī; tu—indeed; kartavye—have been completed; daśamyām—on the dasami; daśa—these ten; varjayet—should avoid; dyūtam—gambling; krīḍām—playing; ca—and; nidrām—sleeping; ca—and; tāmbūlam—betelnuts; danta-dhāvanam—brushing the teeth. When ekādaśī is ended, and the daśamī day has come, one should avoid these ten things: 1. eating from a brass dish, 2. eating flesh, 3. masūra dāl, 4. kodrava grains, 5. chick-peas, 6. spinach, 7. honey, 8. and the food of others, 9. eating twice, and 10. sex. One should also avoid gambling, playing, sleeping, chewing betelnuts, and brushing the teeth.

viṣṇu-vrate tu kartavye daśamyāṁ daśa varjayet dyūtaṁ krīḍāṁ ca nidrāṁ ca tāmbūlaṁ danta-dhāvanam kāṁsyam—brass utensils; māṁsam—meat; masūrān—masura dal; ca—and; kodravam—kodrava; caṇakam—chick-peas; tathā—so; śākam—vegetables; madhu—honey; parānnam—the food of others; ca—and; punaḥ—again; bhojana—eating; maithunam—sex; viṣṇu-vrate—when the vow of ekādaśī; tu—indeed; kartavye—have been completed; daśamyām—on the dasami; daśa—these ten; varjayet—should avoid; dyūtam—gambling; krīḍām—playing; ca—and; nidrām—sleeping; ca—and; tāmbūlam—betelnuts; danta-dhāvanam—brushing the teeth. When ekādaśī is ended, and the daśamī day has come, one should avoid these ten things: 1. eating from a brass dish, 2. eating flesh, 3. masūra dāl, 4. kodrava grains, 5. chick-peas, 6. spinach, 7. honey, 8. and the food of others, 9. eating twice, and 10. sex. One should also avoid gambling, playing, sleeping, chewing betelnuts, and brushing the teeth.

On ekādaśī one should avoid harsh speech, slander, theft, violence, sex, anger, and speaking lies.

On the dvādaśī one should avoid brass utensils, flesh, liquor, honey, oil, speaking lies, puṣṭi, ṣaṣṭi, and masūra.

By following these rules one should observe the great vow of ekādaśī and dvādaśī.

māhātmyaṁ vada tattvataḥ śrī-gopya ūcuḥ—the gopīs said; ekādaśī-vratasya asya—of the vow of ekādaśī; kālam—the time; vada—please tell; mahā-mate—O noble-hearted one; kim—what?; phalam—the result; vada—please tell; tasyāḥ—of that; tu—indeed; māhātmyam—teh glories; vada—please tell; tattvataḥ—in truth. The gopīs said: O noble-hearted one, please tell us when the vow of ekādaśī should be observed. What is the result of following ekādaśī? Please tell us. Please tell us in truth the glories of ekādaśī.

If dvādaśī starts within the first twenty-two hours of ekādaśī, one should not fast on ekādaśī, but on dvādaśī instead. Note: One ghaṭikā equals twenty-four minutes. Fifty-five ghaṭikās equal twenty-two hours.

As one avoids drinking a cup of Gaṅgā water into which a drop of wine has fallen, so one should avoid fasting on such an ekādaśī.

When ekādaśī goes to its completion, and dvādaśi arrives at the proper time, then one should fast on ekādaśī.

O girls of Vraja, now I will tell you the result of following ekādaśī. Simply by hearing this description one attains the reuslt of performing a vājapeya-yajṣa.

A person who follows the vow of ekādaśī and dvādaśī attains the same pious result one attains by feeding eighty-eight brāhmaṇas.

A person who follows ekādaśī attains a pious result thousands of times greater than the pious result attained by performing the ritual of mixing the earth and the ocean.

For they who are drowning in the ocean of repeated birth and death, an ocean muddy with many sins, the vow of fasting on ekādaśī is the best means of deliverance.

Even though contaminated with hundreds of sins, a person who keeps a nighttime vigil while following the vow of ekādaśī never sees angry Yamarāja.

As a lotus leaf is never touched by water, so a person who worships Lord Kṛṣṇa with tulasī leaves on dvādaśī is never touched by sin.

The results of a thousand aśvamedha-yajṣas and a hundred rājasūya-yajṣas are not equal to even a sixteenth part of the result of fasting on ekādaśī.

A person who follows ekādaśī delivers ten generations of his mother's family, ten generations of his father's family, and ten generations on his wife's family.

As a white cow and a black cow both give the same kind of milk, so the ekādaśī of the bright fortnight and the ekādaśī of the dark fortnight both bring the same result.

O gopīs, a fire burns a great pile of cotton, so a single ekādaśī burns the great Mount Meru of sins committed in a hundred births.

O gopīs, when, either following the proper method or not following it, and whether it is great or small, one gives charity on dvādaśī, that charity becomes as great as a Mount Meru of charity.

A person who on ekādaśī hears the stories of Lord Kṛṣṇa attains the same pious result he would attain by giving great charity everywhere on the seven continents.

A person who bathes at Saṅkhoddhara-tīrtha and gazes at the Deity of Lord Gadādhara there does not attain even one sixteenth of the piety one attains by fasting on ekādaśī.

saṅkrantīnāṁ catur-lakṣaṁ dānaṁ dattaṁ ca yan naraiḥ ekādaśy-upavāsasya kalāṁ nārhanti ṣoḍaśīm prabhāse—at Prabhasa; ca—and; kurukṣetre—at Kuruksetra; kedāre—at Kedara; badrikāśrame—at Badarikasrama; kāśyām—at Varanasi; ca—and; śūkara-kṣetre—at Sukara-ksetra; grahaṇe—during the eclipse; candra-sūryayoh—of the sun or moon; saṅkrantīnām—of sankrantis; catur-lakṣam—four-hundred thousand; dānam—chasrity; dattam—given; ca—and; yan—what; naraiḥ—by people; ekādaśy-upavāsasya—of fasting on ekādaśī; kalām—part; na—not; arhanti—is equal; ṣoḍaśīm—sixteenth. A person who makes four-hundred thousand pilgrimages to Prabhāsa, Kurukṣetra, Kedāra, Badarikāśrama, Vārāṇasī, and Sūkarakṣetra during eclipses of the sun or moon and gives great charity there does not attain even one sixteenth of the piety one attains by fasting on ekādaśī.

saṅkrantīnāṁ catur-lakṣaṁ dānaṁ dattaṁ ca yan naraiḥ ekādaśy-upavāsasya kalāṁ nārhanti ṣoḍaśīm prabhāse—at Prabhasa; ca—and; kurukṣetre—at Kuruksetra; kedāre—at Kedara; badrikāśrame—at Badarikasrama; kāśyām—at Varanasi; ca—and; śūkara-kṣetre—at Sukara-ksetra; grahaṇe—during the eclipse; candra-sūryayoh—of the sun or moon; saṅkrantīnām—of sankrantis; catur-lakṣam—four-hundred thousand; dānam—chasrity; dattam—given; ca—and; yan—what; naraiḥ—by people; ekādaśy-upavāsasya—of fasting on ekādaśī; kalām—part; na—not; arhanti—is equal; ṣoḍaśīm—sixteenth. A person who makes four-hundred thousand pilgrimages to Prabhāsa, Kurukṣetra, Kedāra, Badarikāśrama, Vārāṇasī, and Sūkarakṣetra during eclipses of the sun or moon and gives great charity there does not attain even one sixteenth of the piety one attains by fasting on ekādaśī.

vṛkṣāṇāṁ ca yathāśvatthaḥ patrāṇāṁ tulasī yathā vratānāṁ ca tathā gopyo varā caikādaśī tithiḥ nāgānām—of serpents; ca—and; yathā—as; śeṣaḥ—Seṣa; pakṣiṇām—of birds; garuḍaḥ—Garuḍa; yathā—as; devānām—the demigods; ca—and; yathā—as; viṣṇuḥ—Lord Viṣṇu; varṇānām—of castes; brāhmaṇaḥ—a brāhmaṇa; yathā—as; vṛkṣāṇām—of trees; ca—and; yathā—as; aśvatthaḥ—the banyan tree; patrāṇām—of leaves; tulasī—Tulasī; yathā—as; vratānām—of vows; ca—and; tathā—so; gopyaḥ—O gopīs; varā—the best; ca—and; ekādaśī—ekādaśī; tithiḥ—day. O gopīs, as Lord Seṣa is the best of serpents, as Garuḍa is the best of birds, as Lord Viṣṇu is the best of Deities, as the brāhmaṇas are the best of castes, as the banyan is the best of trees, and as a tulasī leaf is the best of leaves, so fasting on ekādaśī day is the best of sacred vows.

A person who follows ekādaśī attains the result of performing austerities for ten thousand years.

O girls of Vraja, now I have described to you the result of following the vow of ekādaśī. Please follow the vow of ekādaśī at once. What more do you wish to hear? .pa