Feb 05 2005, Saturday Ekadasi Sat-tila)

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Sat-Tila Ekadasii

(Trisprisha Ekaadasii)

from Bhavisya-uttara Puran

 

Ekadashi meditations

 

Sri Daalbhya Rishi said to Palastya Muni, "When the spirit soul comes in

contact with the material energy, he immediately begins to perform sinful

activities, such as stealing, killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform

many other terrible deeds, such as killing a brahmin. Oh purest of

personalities, please tell me how these unfortunate souls may escape the

punishment of being sent to hellish regions of creation. Kindly inform me

how, by giving even a little in charity, one may be easily released from the

reactions of his sins."

 

Pulastya Muni replied, "Oh fortunate one, you have asked me an important and

confidential question, which not even Brahmaa, Vishnu, Shiva or Indra has

ever asked. Please listen very carefully to my answer.

 

"With the arrival of the month of Magh (January - February), one should

bathe, carefully control his senses by giving up lust, anger, pride,

jealousy, faultfinding, and greed, and meditate on the Supreme Personality

of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. One should then gather up some cow dung before

it touches the ground and, after mixing it with sesame seeds and cotton,

form 108 balls. This should be done on the day when the constellation of

Purva-ashadha nakshatra arrives. then one should follow the rules and

regulations of Sri Ekaadasii, which I shall now explain to you.

 

"After bathing, the person who intends to observe Ekaadasii should worship

the Supreme Lord. While praying to Lord Sri Krishna by chanting His holy

name, he should promise to observe the Ekaadasii fast. He should remain

awake overnight and perform a homa (fire sacrifice). Then the devotee should

perform an Arati ceremony for the pleasure of the Lord - Who holds a conch,

disk, club, and so on in His hands - offering Him sandalwood paste to his

feet, incense, camphor, a bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations.

Next the devotee should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and

cotton wool into the sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the Lord

as Purusha sukta, and other names. Throughout the whole day and night he

should also observe the standard Ekaadasii vrata (fast, which in this case

is a fast from all kinds of grains and beans). On this occasion one should

offer the Lord - pumpkin, coconut, and guava. If these items are

unavailable, betel nut may be substituted.

 

"The devotee should pray to Lord Sri Janardana, the benefactor of all living

beings, in this way; 'Oh Lord Sri Krishna, You are the most merciful

Personality of Godhead and the giver of liberation to all fallen souls. Oh

Lord, we have fallen into the ocean of material existence. Please be kind to

us. Oh lotus-eyed divinity, please accept our most humble, affectionate and

respectful obeisances. Oh protector of the entire world, we offer You our

humble respects again and again. Oh Supreme Spirit, Oh Supreme One, Oh

source of all our forefathers, may You and Your eternal consort, Srimati

Laxmi-devi, please accept these humble offerings.'

 

"The devotee should then try to please a qualified brahmin with a warm

welcome, a pot full of water (purna kumbha), an umbrella, a pair of shoes,

and clothes (cloth - dhoti, and anga vaastra), requesting him at the same

time to bestow his blessings, by which one may develop unalloyed love for

Lord Sri Krishna. According to one's ability, one may also donate a black

cow to such a brahmin, particularly to one who is very well versed in all

the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures. One should also offer him a pot

full of sesame seeds.

 

"Oh exalted Daalbhya Muni, black sesame seeds are especially suitable for

formal worship and fire sacrifices while white or brown ones are meant to be

eaten by a qualified brahmin. One who can arrange to give both kinds of

sesame seeds (black and white or brown) especially on this Sat-tilaa

Ekaadasii day will be promoted to at least the heavenly planets after

leaving this present body, for as many thousands of years as the number of

seeds that would be produced if the seeds he donated were sown in the ground

and grew into mature, seed bearing plants.

 

"On this Ekaadasii a faithful person should

 

(1) bathe in the water mixed with sesame seeds,

(2) rub sesame seed paste on his body,

(3) offer sesame seeds into the fire in sacrifice,

(4) eat sesame seeds,

(5) give sesame seeds away in charity,

(6) accept charitable gifts of sesame seeds.

 

These are the six (sat) ways in which sesame seeds (tilaa) are utilised for

spiritual purification on this Ekaadasii. Therefore it is called Sat-tilaa

Ekaadasii.

 

"The great Devarishi Naarad Muni once asked the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, Sri Krishna, 'Oh mighty armed Lord, Oh You who are so affectionate

to Your loving devotees, please accept my most humble obeisances. Oh

Yaadava, kindly tell me the result one obtains by observing Sat-tilaa

Ekaadasii.'

 

"Lord Sri Krishna replied, 'Oh best of the twice born brahmins, I shall

narrate to you an account of an incident I personally witnessed. Long ago on

earth there lived an old female brahmini who worshipped Me every day with

controlled senses. She very faithfully observed many a fast, especially on

special days honouring Me (My various appearance days Janmaasthami,

Rama-navami, Vaman Dwadasi, Nrisimha Chaturdasi, Varaha Dwadasi, Gaura

Purnima, etc.) and served Me with full devotion, devoid of any personal

motive. Her rigorous fasting made her quite weak and thin. She gave charity

to brahmanas and to young maidens (kanyas), and even planned to give away

her house in charity. Oh best of the brahmanas although this spiritually

minded woman gave charitable donations to worthy people, the odd feature of

her austerity was that she never gave food to brahmanas or the devas

(demigods).

 

"'I began to reflect on this curious omission: "This fine woman has purified

herself by fasting on all the auspicious occasions and by offering Me strict

devotional worship. Therefore she certainly has become eligible to enter My

personal abode, which is unattainable by ordinary persons." So I came down

to this planet to examine her, disguising Myself as a follower of Lord

Shiva's, complete with a garland of skulls draped around My neck and a

begging pot (kumandalu) in My hand.

 

"'As I approached her, she said to Me, "Oh respectful one, tell me

truthfully why You have come before me."

 

"'I replied, "Oh beautiful one, I have come to get some sacred alms from

you" - whereupon she angrily threw a dense lump of mud into My begging pot!

Oh Naarada Muni I simply turned around and went back to My personal abode,

astonished at this fine brahmani's peculiar mixture of great magnanimity and

stinginess.

 

"'At last this austere lady reached the spiritual world in her self-same

body, so great were her efforts at fasting and charity. And because she had

indeed offered Me a lump of mud, I transformed that mud into a beautiful

home. However, Oh Naradaji, this particular house was just like that mud

completely devoid of any edible grains, as well as any furniture or

ornamentation, and when she entered it she found only an empty structure.

She therefore approached Me and said with great anger, "I have fasted

repeatedly on so many auspicious occasions, making my body weak and thin. I

have worshipped You and prayed to You in so many different ways for You are

truly the master and protector of all the universes. Yet despite all this

there is no food or wealth to be seen in my new home, Oh Janardana, please

tell me. Why is this?"

 

"'I replied, "Please return to your house. Sometime later the wives of the

devas (demigods) will pay you a visit out of curiosity to see the new

arrival, but do not open your door until they have described to you the

glories and importance of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii."

 

"'Hearing this, she returned to her house. Eventually the devas' wives

arrived there and in unison said, "Oh beautiful one, we have come to have

your darshan. Oh auspicious one, please open the door to your house and let

us see you.

 

"'The lady replied, "Oh most dear ones, if you want me to open this door,

you will have to describe to me the merit one obtains by observing the

sacred fast of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii." But to this request, not even one of

the wives responded.

 

"'Later, however, they returned to the house, and one of the wives nicely

explained the sublime nature of this sacred Ekaadasii. And when the lady at

last opened her door, they saw that she was neither a demigoddess, a

Gandharvi, a she-demon, nor even a Naga-patni. She was simply an ordinary

human lady.

 

"'From then on the lady observed Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, which awards ALL

material enjoyment and liberation at the same time, as it has been described

to her. And she finally received the beautiful furnishings and grains she

had expected for her home. Moreover, her once ordinary material body was

transformed into a beautiful spiritual form made of sac-cid-ananda

(eternality, knowledge, and bliss), with a fine complexion. So, by the mercy

and grace of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, both the lady and her new home in the

spiritual world were at last radiantly splendid and lustrous with gold,

silver, jewels, and diamonds.

 

"'Oh Naradaji, a person should not ostentatiously observe Ekaadasii out of

greed, with the hope of attaining wealth dishonestly. Selflessly, he should

simply donate sesame seed, clothes, and food according to his capacity, for

by doing so he will achieve good health and exalted spiritual consciousness,

birth after birth. Ultimately, he will be given release from the bonds of

this world (liberation) and admittance into the Lord's supreme abode will be

his to enjoy. That is my opinion, Oh best of the demigods deva-rishis).'

 

"Oh Daalbhya Muni," Pulastya Rishi concluded, "one who properly observes

this wonderful Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii with great faith become free from all

kinds of poverty - spiritual, mental, physical, social, and intellectual -

as well as all kinds of ill luck and evil omens (sakuna). Indeed, following

this Ekaadasii fast by donating, sacrificing, or eating sesame seeds frees

one of all past sin, without a doubt. One need not wonder how this happens.

The rare soul who properly performs these acts of charity in the right

devotional mood, following the Vedic injunctions, will become utterly free

of all sinful reactions and go back to Godhead, back home to the spiritual

world."

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Magh-krishna Ekaadasii, or

Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, from the sacred Bhavishya-uttara Purana of Srila

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyaasa.