PApankushA - Paashunkushaa EkAdasii

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PApankushA - Paashunkushaa EkAdasii

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PApANkushA - Paashunkushaa EkAdasii - from the Brahma-vaivarta PurANa.

Yudhishthira maharaj said, Oh MadhusUdana, what is the name of the EkAdasii

that comes during the light fortnight of the month of Ashvina (September -

October)? Please be merciful and disclose this truth to me."

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna replied, "Oh king, please

listen as I explain the glories of this EkAdasii - PApankusha EkAdasii - which

removes all sins. On this day one should worship the Deity of Padmanabha, the

lotus naveled Lord Vishnu, according to the rules of archana viddhi

(regulations). By so doing, one achieves whatever heavenly pleasures one may

want in this world, and at last attains liberation from this world thereafter.

Simply by offering one's humbly obeisances unto Lord Vishnu, the rider of

GaruDa, one can achieve the same merit as is gained by performing great

penances for a long time restraining and controlling the senses. Although a

person might have committed unlimited and abominable sins, he can still escape

hellish punishment just by paying his obeisances to Lord Sri Hari, the taker

away of all sin."

 

"The merits gained by going on pilgrimage to the Holy Tirthas of this

earthly planet can also be achieved simply by chanting the Holy names of Lord

Vishnu. Whosoever chants these sacred names - such as RAma, Vishnu, Janardana

or Krishna - especially on EkAdasii, never sees YamarAj, the king of death's

punishing abode. Nor does such a devotee who fasts on PApankusha EkAdasii,

which is very dear to Me, see that plutonic abode."

 

"Both the Vaishnava who criticises Lord Shiva and the Shaivite (Saivite)

who criticises Me certainly go to hell. The merit obtained by performing one

hundred horse sacrifices and one hundred Rajasurya sacrifices is not even equal

to one sixteenth of the merit a devotee is able to attain by fasting on

EkAdasii. There is no higher merit one can achieve than that attained by

fasting on EkAdasii. Indeed, nothing in all the three worlds is as pleasing or

as able to purify one of accumulated sin as EkAdasii, the day of the

lotus-naveled Lord, Padmanabha.

 

"O king, until a person observes a fast on the day of Lord Padmanabha named

PApANkusha EkAdasii, he remains sinful, and the reactions of his past sinful

activities never leave him like a chaste wife. There is no merit in all the

three worlds that can match the merit that one gains by observing a fast on

this EkAdasii. Whosoever observes it faithfully never has to see death

personified, Lord YamarAj. One who desires liberation, elevation to the

heavens, good health, beautiful women, wealth, and food grains should simply

fast on this PAshunkushA EkAdasii. O king, neither the Ganges, Gaya, Kashi, nor

Pushkara, nor even the Holy site of Kurukshetra, can grant as much auspicious

merit as this PApankusha EkAdasii.

 

"O MaharAj Yudhishthira, protector of the earth, after observing ekadasi

during the daytime, the devotee should remain awake through the night, absorbed

in hearing, chanting and serving the lord - for by so doing he easily attains

to the Supreme abode of Lord Vishnu. Not only that, but ten generations of

ancestors on his mother's side, ten generations on his father's side, and ten

generations on his wife's side are all liberated by a single observance of a

fast on this EkAdasii. All these ancestors attain their original, four armed

transcendental Vaikuntha forms. Wearing yellow garments and beautiful garlands,

they ride to the spiritual realm on the back of GaruDa, the renown great enemy

of the snakes. This is the benediction My devotee earns simply by observing one

PApANkusha EkAdasii properly.

 

"O best of kings, whether one is a child, a youth, or in old age, fasting

on PApankusha EkAdasii frees him from all sins and makes him immune to

suffering a hellish rebirth. Whosoever observes a fast on the PApankusha

EkAdasii becomes free of all his sins and returns to the spiritual abode of

Lord Sri Hari. Whosoever donates gold, sesame seeds, fertile land, cows, grain,

drinking water, an umbrella, or a pair of shoes on this most auspicious of Holy

days will never have to visit the abode of YamarAj, who always punishes the

sinners. But if a resident of earth fails to perform spiritual deeds,

especially the observance of a fast on days such as EkAdasii, his breathing is

said to be no better, or of as much use as the breathing/puffing of a

blacksmith's bellows.

 

"O best of the kings, especially on this PApAnkusha EkAdasii, even the poor

should first bathe and then give some charity according to their means, and

perform other auspicious activities in accordance with their ability.

 

"Whosoever performs sacrifices and benefits the people, or builds public

ponds, resting places, gardens, or houses does not suffer the punishments of

YamarAj. Indeed, one should understand that a person much have performed such

pious activities as these in the past life if he is long lived, wealthy, of

high birth, or free from all diseases. But a person who observes PApANkusha

EkAdasii goes to the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu.)

 

Lord Sri Krishna then concluded, "Thus, Oh saintly Yudhishthira, I have

narrated to you the glories of the auspicious PApANkusha EkAdasii."

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of the PApANkusha EkAdasii, or

Ashwina-shukla EkAdasii,

from the Brahma-vaivarta PurANa.