Today is Kamada Ekadasi

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KAmadA EkAdasii

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KAmadA EkAdasii from the VarAha PurANa.

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'"

 

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Thus ends the narration of the glories of Chaitra-sukla EkAdasii, or KAmadA

EkAdasii, from the VarAha PurANa.