nirjala ekadasee

[Guest guest]

> We have a question about Nirjala Ekadasi. What do we offer to Guru and

> Gauranga on this day? Is it necessary to cook or can we just offer fruit

> and milk?

 

Depends on what you normally offer to your Deities. You should keep up

something which is compatible with the normal routine since Deities don't

have to fast.

 

> And do we have to stay awake all night, or is it alright to

> sleep and break fast in the morning?

 

If you want to get the full benefit of the vrata then it is recommended to

stay up all night and also only eat one grain meal the day before.

 

If one cannot do everything then one can declare to the Deities in the

morning upto what level one can do and follow that. Usually the sastra

gives different degrees of following a vrata for which one can usually get

proportionate blessings.

 

We,ve been told that Bhima found it difficult to observe each and every

ekadasee slo he preferred to do one really austerily so he wouldn't have to

do for the rest of the year. Thus came the nirjala ekadasee. So it is meant

to be austere and difficult. One can observe it like a normal ekadasee also

and doesn't have to do nirjala, but the one should observe all the rest of

the ekadasees throughout the year as well.