Ekadasi Prasadam

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakta Promod

 

I believe you would find details in the books Hari-bhakti-vilasa,

Ekadasi-mahatmya, and there is one other that the BBT put out a few years

ago...I think it was simply called 'Ekadasi'.

 

The only other instructions I have had regarding this are from my Guru

Maharaja, Srila BV Tripurari Swami:

 

> Regarding ekadasi, this vow is discussed in Hari-bhakti-vilasa.

> Therein it is mentioned that the Ekadasi vrata should begin on the

> dasami with an affirmation of one's intention to observe the vow.

> Following this one should forgo one's evening meal on the dasami and

> then fast the entire day of ekadasi and perform a vigil of chanting

> before the Deity for the entire night. One should then break fast at

> the appropriate time on the dvadasi and not eat again, remaining wake

> throughout the day. A concession is also give for those unable to

> fast entirely. This generally refers to the elderly, children,and the

> infirmed. They can take a meal of consisting of fruits, roots, and

> milk on the evening of the ekadasi. There are numerous other rules

> mentioned as well. However, the order of a sat guru supercedes any of

> the rules. Thus we should follow ekadasi in consideration of the

> adjustments that have been made by our acaryas in modern times. What

> follows is something I wrote previously on the spirit of ekadasi.

>

> Q. How important is Ekadasi for the followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu?

>

> A. Ekadasi was very important to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One day in his

> childhood he approached his mother and asked, "Mother, please do one thing

> for me?" She said, "Yes, Nimai, whatever you like." He said, "Please don't

> eat grains on Ekadasi." At that time in Bengal only widows were thought to

> have to follow Ekadasi and women who were married and had families and

> husbands, they didn't. Ekadasi was looked at as a punishment. If you're a

> bad person, then you have to fast on Ekadasi. They thought widows were

> unfortunate people, with bad karma, inauspicious. So if your life was

> inauspicious, only then did you need to follow Ekadasi. But Mahaprabhu

> said something quite different. So immediately, from that day on, Sacidevi

> began to observe Ekadasi.

>

> Later on, in Jagannatha Puri, the devotees of Mahaprabhu had a dilemma

> about observing Ekadasi. Because in Jagannath Puri there is so much

> prasad, 54 offerings daily and taking Jagannath prasad is very auspicious.

> So, if Ekadasi means fasting, how can we not honor the prasad of Lord

> Jagannatha? This question was put to Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he gave his

> opinion; "We shall observe Ekadasi and we shall honor Jagannath prasad.

> When Jagannath prasad comes, we will pay our dandavats to it. In this way,

> prasad will be honored and we will continue to observe the upavasa at the

> same time."

>

> So Mahaprabhu emphasized this point a great deal. Even raganuga bhaktas

> should observe Ekadasi. It is favorable, it is anukula for raganuga

> bhajan. We should not think that raganuga means we don't need to follow

> all of the regulations.

>

> Q. What is the principle behind Ekadasi?

>

> Upavasa means to fast. Vasa may mean to reside and upa means nearby. So

> upavasa means "to reside nearby". So the main principle of Ekadasi is to

> reside near the Lord. It is not about fasting but about coming closer to

> the Lord. This is the actual heart of the idea. In fact, every day we

> should come closer to the Lord but two days have been singled out to

> emphasize the point. So we can call it Hari's day and everyone will be

> told to do certain observances. But the purpose is to reside closer to the

> Lord, to come near to him. And when we do it we find it is nice, and then

> we may end up doing it every day. That is the real idea.

>

> In the Christian faith they make Sunday the Lord's Day. Every day actually

> is the Lord's day, but they select one day so that at least on that one

> day everyone will observe. So this is the principle, to come near to the

> Lord. Our Ekadasi observance should revolve around that. In other words,

> if fasting is only making me go to sleep, if fasting is only making me

> proud, what is the value of that? Will I be brought nearer to the Lord by

> that?

>

> Q. Are there ever any exceptions?

>

> On one occasion a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur had to

> travel for preaching on ekadasi. It was important for the mission that he

> preach, and for traveling you have to eat grains - especially if you're

> Bengali, you have to have some rice. So they ate rice and went preaching

> on Ekadasi. This is mentioned in Hari Bhakti Vilasa, if sad-guru says

> break Ekadasi, then you can break it.

>

> In the preaching mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu we should position

> ourselves as assistants to a real preacher. We should follow very

> carefully. But if sad guru says "take grains on Ekadasi" then for the

> higher purpose of preaching we can do that, as Sarasvati Thakur showed. We

> have to become acquainted with the principle of Ekadasi, as we must with

> all the devotional practices. Otherwise it is just niyamagraha. We follow

> the rules but don't know the meaning. That will be counterproductive and a

> cause of going down.

>

> We should have this kind of sensibility and understand the principle. We

> should be saragarahi Vaisnavas and not baragrahi Vaisnavas who simply

> carry around a burden of so much form that the substance is obscured. This

> a gostyanandi line we are coming in, and it is all about adjusting the

> details for delivering the principle. We have to have some dynamic

> thinking if we are to preach. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur was

> prepared to serve even meat if this meant Westerners would come to Mayapur

> to hear about Caitanya Mahaprabhu. His own disciples were shocked. He told

> them. "You have to have Vaikuntha vritti." This means like Vaikuntha in

> the mind, where anything can be adjusted from the Vaikuntha perspective,

> and all things are possible. He was no ordinary devotee preacher. We

> should aspire to come under the auspices of such a person.

>

> And we can not imitate such a preacher of course. But we should know who

> it is we are connected with, and what an extraordinary devotee

> Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur was, and how great were his followers. We

> must keep this line of the Gaudiya Sarasvata sampradaya alive with real

> preaching through understanding the essence of the devotional principles.

>

> Q. What is the significance of the moon and Ekadasi?

>

> In the Fifteenth chapter of Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, "I am the light of

> the sun and the moon." There is another way of thinking about this,

> looking at it from an other direction. "In this world I am the light. The

> light of the sun and moon cannot reveal me, but at the same time in

> whatever light there is, I am there." If we think of the sun and moon in

> this way, it will shed light on the nature of Krsna's position and take us

> to him. Krsna says, "I become the moon and by that I nourish the

> vegetables."

>

> The moon is said to have some position in influencing the juices. The

> tides of the ocean, for example, are determined by the phases of the moon.

> And our human body is constituted primarily of water. So at the time of

> Ekadasi, the water in the body rises on by the influence of the moon and

> puts pressure on the senses and increases our tendency to enjoy. From this

> perspective it seems to be inauspicious because we are pushed toward sense

> gratification which is not drawing us nearer to the Lord but away. So by

> fasting, the pressure on the senses goes down and we will not be pushed

> away from the Lord by the influence of that phase of the moon. So from the

> point of view of the sadhaka, it may seem that Ekadasi is inauspicious.

>

> But Prabhupada said, "Ekadasi is most auspicious," did he not? "It is not

> fasting, it is feasting." So for the siddha, who dwells in the aprakrta

> conception of the Absolute, where Krsna is not God, but where he is like

> us. In the aprakrta conception of the Lord, Krsna appears to be like one

> of us. Mother Yasoda is not thinking, "Krsna is the Supreme Godhead." The

> cowherds and the gopis are not are not thinking like this. They are

> thinking along these lines, "My son, my friend, my lover." They are

> thinking that Krsna is human like them. So on Ekadasi they think,

> "Pressure is there on Krsna's senses to enjoy more. So we can offer him

> more on this day, more prasad we can offer. We can satisfy his senses

> more. Although we are already giving him everything, by the grace of this

> phase of the moon, he can take even more." So these devotees see Ekadasi

> as increasing their service .

>

> In this way Ekadasi is most auspicious. It is feasting for the Lord and

> not fasting at all. So we should try to come to this prakrta conception of

> Krsna. This is our ideal. First we teach Krsna is the Supreme God, but we

> hope in the future that people will forget that. At one stage we are

> preaching Krsna is the Supreme God, but only to get people to the stage

> where they will think he is my friend only, my lover. This is our ideal.

> So ours is a very funny religion - turning the Veda upside down. But this

> is Vrndavana, this is Goloka. And this is how we should try to understand

> Ekadasi.

>

> ...............

>

> My general request is that you try to make ekadasi a day of increased

> devotion. Do not eat grains or beans, and break the fast within the

> appropriate time (paran) on the dvadasi. Try to find a calendar that

> pertains to the geographical area you are in at the time. The "Bhima"

> ekadasi is technically known as Pandava nirjala ekadasi. It is

> observed by refraining from food and drink. Nirjal means "without

> water." It is said that one can make up for any lapses in observing

> ekadasi throughout the year by observing the Pandava nirjala ekadasi,

> which occurs during the summer (look on your calendar).

 

I hope this helps at all,

 

Your humble servant,

Rama Kesava dasa