Kamada Ekadasi

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April 13th, 2003, Sunday (Suddha Ekadasi)

Fasting for Kamada Ekadasi

 

 

Kamada Ekadasi

 

 

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 Ekadasis, 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi, 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi that occurs during the

light fortnight of Chaitra is named Kamada Ekadasi. 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 Lalitaa, 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. Lalitaa 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, Lalitaa

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 Lalitaa grieved day and night. Instead

of enjoying life as a Gandharva's 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,

Lalitaa began to cry as she followed his mad journeying.

 

"'"By good fortune, however, Lalitaa 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.'

 

"'"Lalitaa replied, 'Oh great age, I am the daughter of the great

Gandharva Viradhanva, and my name is Lalitaa. 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi 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.' Lalitaa was overjoyed to hear these words from the sage.

 

"'"Lalitaa faithfully observed the fast of Kamada Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi. 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 Lalitaa, he could enjoy

even more opulence than before. All this was accomplished by the power and

glory of Kamada Ekadasi. 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

Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi than Kamada Ekadasi. 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'"

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Chaitra-sukla Ekadasi, or

Kamada Ekadasi, from the Varaha Purana.