KAmadA EkAdasi

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April 23, 2002

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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'