Sat-tilaa Ekadasi: Trisprisha Ekadasi on 20th Jan

[Guest guest]

> Interseting story behind sat-tilaa ekadasi. I am just curious about

> eating tila (sesami seeds) on ekadasi. In the story its mentioned that you

> can eat sesame seeds on ekadasi. But since sesame seeds are offered in

> yagna, that means they are considered as grains, and shouldn't be eaten on

> ekadasi day. Please enlighten me about the contradiction here, or its just

> my interpretation which is wrong.

 

I have done a little investigating on this subject. Although there are a few

sastric references which allow/recommend the eating of sesame seeds on

Sat-tila Ekadasi, none of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas we have contacted here in

Orissa or Bengal (meaning the Gaudiya Mission, Gaudiya Math, many babajis

and Goswamis as well as our local Bhubaneswar ISKCON temple) follow this.

They all avoid sesame seeds on all Ekadasis, including Sat-tila.

 

The principle of guru, sadhu, and sastra means that even if the sastra

recommends or allows a certain practice, still, if it is not the specific

order of guru or practiced in sadhu society, we do not follow it.

 

A similar example of sastra saying one thing but the Vaishnavas doing

another is in Hari-bhakti-vilas, wherein it is recommended that one cook a

subji from Tulasi leaves and offer it to the Lord. We do not know of any

Vaishnavas who follow this.

 

I offer these points not as a suggestion for how devotees should follow

Ekadasi, but rather as some cultural information. The Ekadasi practices of

different Vaishnavas in India may not be practical for our preaching in the

West.