Yogini Ekadasi (13-6-2004)

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>

>Yogini Ekadasii

>from Brahma-vaivarta Puran

>

>

>Yudhisthira Maharaj said, "Oh Supreme Lord, I have heard the glories

>of the NirjalA EkAdasii, which occurs during the light fortnight of

>the month of Jyeshtha (May - June). Now I wish to hear from You

>about the suddha EkAdasii that occurs during the dark fortnight of

>the month of AshADha (June - July). Kindly describe to me all about

>it in detail, Oh killer of the Madhu demon (Madhusudana)."

>

>The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, then replied, "Oh king, I shall

>indeed tell you about the best of all fasting days, the EkAdasii

>that comes during the dark part of the month of AshADha. Famous as

>Yogini EkAdasii, it removes all kinds of sinful reactions and awards

>supreme liberation.

>

>"Oh best of kings, this EkAdasii delivers people who are drowning in

>the vast ocean of material existence and transports them to the

>shore of the spiritual world. In all the three worlds, it is the

>chief of all sacred fasting days. I shall now reveal this truth to

>you by narrating a history recounted in the PurANas.

>

>"The king of AlakApuri - Kuvera, the treasurer of the devas

>(demigods) - was a steadfast devotee of lord Shiva. He employed a

>servant named HemamAli as his personal gardener. HemamAli, a Yaksha

>like Kuvera, was very lustfully attracted to his gorgeous wife,

>SwarUpavatii, who had large, enchanting eyes.

>

>"HemamAli's daily duty was to visit MAnasarovara Lake and bring

>back

>flowers for his master, Kuvera, with which he would use them in the

>puja offerings to lord Shiva. One day, after picking the flowers,

>HemamAli went to his wife instead of returning directly to his

>master and fulfilling his duty by bringing the flowers for the puja.

>Absorbed in loving affairs of a bodily nature with his wife, he

>forgot to return to the abode of Kuvera.

>

>"Oh king, while HemamAli was enjoying with his wife, Kuvera had

>begun the worship of lord Shiva as normal in his palace and soon

>discovered that there were no flowers ready to be offered in the

>midday pUjA. The lack of such an important item (upachara) angered

>the great Koshad-yaksha (treasurer of the devas) even more, and he

>asked a Yaksha messenger, `Why has dirty-hearted HemamAli not

>come

>with the daily offering of flowers? Go find out the exact reason and

>report back to me in person with your findings.' The Yaksha

>returned

>and told Kuvera, `Oh dear lord, HemamAli has become lost in

>freely

>enjoying coitus with his wife.'

>

>"Kuvera became extremely angry when he heard this and at once

>summoned lowly HemamAli before him. Knowing that he had been remiss

>and dawdling in his duty and exposed as meditating on his wife's

>body, HemamAli approached his master in great fear. The gardener

>first paid his obeisances and then stood before his lord, whose eyes

>had become red with anger and whose lips trembled in rage. So

>enraged, Kuvera cried out to HemamAli, `Oh you sinful rascal! Oh

>destroyer of religious principles! You are a walking offense to the

>devas! I therefore curse you to suffer from white leprosy and to

>become separated from your beloved wife! Only great suffering is

>deservedly yours! Oh lowborn fool, leave this place immediately and

>betake yourself to the lower planets to suffer!'

>

>"And so HemamAli fell at once from grace in AlakApuri and became ill

>with the terrible affliction of white leprosy. He awoke in a dense

>and fearful forest, where there was nothing to eat or drink. Thus he

>passed his days in misery, unable to sleep at night due to pain. He

>suffered in both winter and summer season, but because he continued

>to worship lord Shiva himself with faith, his consciousness remained

>purely fixed and steady. Although implicated by great sin and its

>attendant reactions, he remembered his past life because of his

>piety.

>

>"After wandering for some time here and there, over mountains and

>across plains, HemamAli eventually came upon the vast expanse of the

>HimAlayan mountain ranges. There he had the wonderful good fortune

>to come in contact with the great saintly soul MarkanNDeya Rishi,

>the best of ascetics, whose duration of life it is said, extends to

>seven of the days of BrahmA.

>

>"MarkaNDeya Rishi was seated peacefully at his Ashrama, looking as

>effulgent as a second BrahmA. HemamAli, feeling very sinful, stood

>at a distance from the magnificent sage and offered his humble

>obeisances and choice prayers. Always interested in the welfare of

>others, MarkaNDeya Rishi saw the leper and called him near, "Oh you,

>what sort of sinful deeds have you done to earn this dreadful

>affliction?'

>

>"Hearing this, HemamAli painfully and ashamed replied, `Dear sir,

>I

>am a Yaksha servant of lord Kuvera, and my name is HemamAli. It was

>my daily service to pick the flowers from the MAnasarovara lake for

>my master's worship of lord Shiva, but one day I was negligent

>and

>was late in returning with the offering because I had become

>overwhelmed with lusty passion for enjoying bodily pleasures with my

>wife. When my master discovered why I was late, he cursed me in

>great anger to be as I am before you. Thus I am now bereft of my

>home, my wife, and my service. But fortunately I have come upon you,

>and now I hope to receive from you an auspicious benediction, for I

>know that devotees such as you are as merciful as the Supreme Lord

>(Bhakta Vatsala) and always carry the interest of others uppermost

>in their hearts. That is their - your nature. Oh best of sages,

>please help me!'

>

>"Softhearted MarkaNDeya Rishi replied, `Because you have told me

>the

>truth, I shall tell you about a fast day that will benefit you

>greatly. If you fast on the EkAdasii that comes during the dark

>fortnight of the month of AshADha, you will surely be freed of this

>terrible curse.'

>

>HemamAli fell to the ground in complete gratitude and offered him

>his humble obeisances again and again. But MarkaNDeya Rishi stood

>there and lifted poor HemamAli to his feet, filling him with

>inexpressible happiness.

>

>"Thus, as the sage had instructed him, HemamAli dutifully observed

>the EkAdasii fast, and by its influence he again became a handsome

>Yaksha. Then he returned home, where he lived very happily with his

>wife."

>

>Lord Sri Krishna concluded, "So, you can readily see, Oh

>Yudhishthira that fasting on Yogini EkAdasii is very powerful and

>auspicious. Whatever merit one obtains by feeding eighty-eight

>thousand brahmins is also obtained simply by observing a strict fast

>on Yogini EkAdasii. For one who fasts on this sacred EkAdasii, she

>(EkAdasii Devi), destroys heaps of past sinful reactions and makes

>him most pious. Oh King, thus I have explained to you the purity of

>Yogini EkAdasii."

>

>Thus ends the narration of the glories of AshADha-krishna EkAdasii,

>or Yogini EkAdasii, from the Brahma-vaivarta PurANa.