Kamika Ekadasi

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Glories of Kamika Ekadasi

 

Kamika Ekadasi - from Brahma Vaivarta Purana:

 

The saintly king Yudhisthira maharaj said, “Oh Supreme Lord, I have heard

from You the glories of fasting on Deva-sayani EkAdasii, which occurs

during the light fortnight of the month of AshADha. Now I would like to

hear from You the glories of the EkAdasii that occurs during the dark

fortnight (krishna paksha) of the month of ShrAvaNa (July –August). Oh

Govindadeva, please be merciful to me and explain its glories. Oh Supreme

VAsudeva, I offer my most humble obeisances unto You.”

 

The Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, replied, “Oh King, please listen

attentively as I describe the auspicious influence of this Holy fast

(vrata) day, which removes all sins. Narada Muni once asked Lord BrahmA

about this same topic. ‘Oh regent of all beings,’ said NAradji, ‘Oh you who

sit upon a water born lotus throne, please tell me the names of the

EkAdasii that occurs during the dark fortnight of the sacred month of

ShrAvaNa. Please also tell me which Deity is to be worshipped on that Holy

day, the process one must follow to observe it, and the merit it awards.’

 

“Lord BrahmA replied, ‘My dear son Narada, for the benefit of all humanity

I shall happily tell you everything you wish to know, for just hearing the

glories of the KAmikA EkAdasii bestows merit equal to that obtained by one

who performs a horse sacrifice. Certainly, great merit is attained by one

who worships, and who also meditates on the lotus feet of the four-armed

Lord GadAdhara, who holds conchshell, disc, club and lotus in His hands and

who is also known as Shridhara, Hari, Vishnu, Madhava, and MadhusUdana. And

the blessings achieved by such a person / devotee, who worships Lord Vishnu

exclusively are far greater than those achieved by one who takes a sacred

bath in the Ganges at KAshi (VarANasii), in the forest of NaimishAraNya, or

at Pushkara, which is the only place on the planet where I am formally

worshipped. But one who observes this KAmikA EkAdasii and also worships

Lord Shri Krishna achieves greater merit than one who has darshana of Lord

KedAranAtha in the HimAlayas, or one who bathes at Kurukshetra during a

solar eclipse, or one who donates the whole Earth in charity, including its

forests and oceans, or one who bathes in the GaNDaki River (where the

sacred Shaligrams are found) or the GodAvari River on a full moon (purnima)

day that falls on a Monday when Leo (Simha) and Jupiter (Guru) are

conjoined (conjunct).

 

“ ’Observing KAmikA EkAdasii bestows the same merit as donating a milk-cow

and her auspicious calf, along with their feed. On this all auspicious day,

whosoever worships Lord Sri Shridhara-deva, Vishnu, is glorified by all the

devas, Gandharvas, Pannagas, and NAgas.

 

“ ‘Those who are afraid of their past sins and completely immersed in

sinful materialistic life should at least observe this best of EkAdasiis

according to their ability and thus attain liberation. This EkAdasii is the

purest of all days and the most powerful for removing sins of the native.

Oh Narada ji, Lord Shri Hari Himself once said about this EkAdasii, “One

who fasts on KAmikA EkAdasii attains much more merit than one who studies

all the spiritual literatures.”

 

“ ‘Anyone who fasts on this particular day remains awake throughout the

night will never experience the anger of YamarAja, the king of death

personified. It has been seen that whoever observes KAmikA EkAdasii will

not have to suffer future births, and in the past too, many Yogis of

devotion who fasted on this day went to the spiritual world. One should

therefore follow in their auspicious footsteps and strictly observe a fast

on this most auspicious of EkAdasiis.

 

“ ‘Whosoever worships Lord Shri Hari with Tulasi leaves is freed from all

implication of sin. Indeed, he lives untouched by sin, as the lotus leaf,

although in the water, is untouched by it. Whosoever offers Lord Shri Hari

but a single leaf from the sacred Tulasi tree (occillium basilcum sanctum)

attains as much merit as one who gives away in charity two hundred grams of

gold and eight hundred grams of silver. The Supreme Personality of Godhead

is more pleased by one who offers Him a single Tulasi leaf than by one who

worships Him with pearls, rubies, topaz, diamonds, lapis lazuli, sapphires,

gomedA stones (gomaz), cat’s eye gems, and coral. One who offers Lord

Keshava newly grown maNjari buds from the Tulasi plant gets rid of all the

sins he has committed during this or any other lifetime. Indeed, mere

darshana of Tulasi on KAmikA EkAdasii removes all sins, and merely touching

her and praying to her removes all kinds of disease. One who waters Tulasi

devi need never fear the Lord of death, YamarAja. One who plants or

transplants Tulasi on this days will eventually reside with Lord Shri

Krishna in His own abode. To Srimati Tulasi devi, who awards liberation in

devotional service, one should therefore daily offer one’s full obeisances.

 

“ ‘Even Chitragupta, YamarAja’s secretary, cannot calculate the merit

obtained by one who offers Shrimati Tulasi-devi a perpetually burning ghee

lamp. So dear is this sacred EkAdasii to the Supreme Personality of Godhead

that all the forefathers of one who offers a bright ghee lamp to Lord Shri

Krishna on this day ascend to the heavenly planets and drink the celestial

nectar there. Whoever offers a ghee or sesame oil lamp to Shri Krishna on

this day is freed from all his sins and enters the abode of Surya, the Sun-

god, with a body as bright as ten million lamps. This EkAdasii is so

powerful that if one who is unable to fast simply follows the practices as

mentioned herein, s/he is elevated to the heavenly planets, along with all

their forefathers.

 

“ ‘Oh Maharaj Yudhisthira,” Lord Shri Krishna concluded, “?these were the

words of prajapathi BrahmA to his son Narada Muni concerning the

incalculable glories of this KAmikA EkAdasii, which removes all sins. This

sacred day nullifies even the sin of killing a brAhmaNa or the sin of

killing an unborn child in the womb, and it promotes one to the spiritual

world by making one supremely meritorious.

One who kills the innocent, i.e., a brahmin (brAhmaNa), a child in the

womb, a pious and spotless woman, etc., and then later hears about the

glories of KAmikA EkAdasii will be relieved of the reaction to one’s sins.

However, one should NOT think beforehand that one can kill a Brahmin or

other innocent folk and then go unpunished simply by hearing of this

EkAdasii. Such knowing commission of sin is an abomination.

 

Whosoever hears these glories of the KAmikA EkAdasii with faith becomes

free of all sins and returns home, back to Godhead – Vishnu-loka, Vaikuntha.

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of the ShrAvaNa-kRshNa EkAdasii, or

KAmikA EkAdasii,

from the Brahma-Vaivarta PurANa.