The glories of Pavitropana Ekadashi

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The glories of Pavitropana Ekadashi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shri

Yudhisthira Maharaja said, " Oh Madhusudana, Oh killer of the Madhu

demon, please be merciful to me and describe to me the Ekadashi that

occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Shravana

(July-August). " The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, replied, " Yes, Oh king,

I shall happily narrate its glories to you, for just by hearing about

this sacred Ekadashi one attains the merit of performing a horse

sacrifice.

" At

the dawn of DvArpara-yuga there lived a king by the name of Mahijita,

who ruled the kingdom of Mahismati-puri. Because he had no son, his

entire kingdom seemed utterly cheerless to him. A married man who has

no son gains no happiness in this life or the next.

The

Sanskrit word for 'son' is putra. Pu is the name of a particular hell,

and tra means 'to deliver.' Thus the word putra means 'a person who

delivers one from the hell named Pu.' Therefore every married man

should produce at least one son and train him properly; then the father

will be delivered from a hellish condition of life. But this injunction

does not apply to the serious devotees of Lord Vishnu or Krishna, for

the Lord becomes their son, father, and mother.

Furthermore, ChANakya Pandita says,

satyam mata pita jnanam dharmo bhrata daya sakha santih patni ksama putrah sadete mama vandhavah

" Truth

is my mother, knowledge is my father, my occupational duty is my

brother, kindness is my friend, tranquility is my wife, and forgiveness

is my son. These six are my family members. " Among the twenty-six

leading qualities of a devotee of the Lord, forgiveness is the topmost.

Therefore devotees should make an extra endeavor to develop this

quality. Here ChANakya says " forgiveness is my son, " and thus a devotee

of the Lord, even though he may be on the path of renunciation, may

observe this Ekadashi and pray to attain this kind of " son. "

For

a long time this king tried very hard to obtain an heir, but to no

avail. Seeing his years advancing ever onwards, King Mahijita became

increasingly anxious. One day he told an assembly of his advisers: 'I

have committed no sin in this life, and there is no ill-gotten wealth

in my treasury. I have never usurped the offerings to the demigods or

brahmanas. When I waged war and conquered kingdoms, I followed the

rules and regulations of the military art, and I have protected my

subjects as if they were my own children. I punished even my own

relatives if they broke the law, and if my enemy was gentle and

religious I welcomed him. Oh twice-born souls, although I am a

religious and faithful follower of the Vedic standards, still my home

is without a son. Kindly tell me the reason for this.'

" Hearing

this, the king's brahmana advisers discussed the subject among

themselves, and with the aim of benefiting the king they visited the

various ashrams of the great sages. At last they came upon a sage who

was austere, pure, and self-satisfied, and who was strictly observing a

vow of fasting. His senses were completely under control, he had

conquered his anger, and he was expert at performing his occupational

duty. Indeed, this great sage was expert in all the conclusions of the

Vedas, and he had extended his life span to that of Lord Brahma

himself. His name was Lomasa Rishi, and he knew part, present, and

future. After each kalpa passed, one hair would fall out of his body

(One kalpa, or twelve hours of Lord Brahma, equals 4,320,000,000

years.) All the king's brahmana advisers very happily approached him

one by one to offer their humble respects.

" Captivated

by this great soul, King Mahijita's advisers offered obeisances to him

and said very respectfully, 'Only because of our great good fortune, Oh

sage, have we been allowed to see you.' " Lomasa Rishi saw them bowing

down to him and replied, 'Kindly let me know why you have come here.

Why are you praising me? I must do all I can to solve your problems,

for sages like me have only one interest: to help others. Do not doubt

this.'

Lomasa Rishi had all good qualities because he was a devotee of the Lord. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (5:18:12),

yasyasti

bhaktir bhagavaty akinchana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah harav

abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna manorathenasati dhavato bahih

" In

one who has unflinching devotional service to Krishna, all the good

qualities of Krishna and the demigods are consistently manifest.

However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead

has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction

in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord. "

" The

king's representatives said, 'We have come to you, Oh exalted sage, to

ask for your help in solving a very serious problem. Oh sage, you are

like Lord Brahma. Indeed, there is no better sage in the entire world.

Our king, Mahijita, is without a son, though he has sustained and

protected us as if we were his sons. Seeing him so unhappy on account

of being sonless, we have become very sad, Oh sage, and therefore we

have entered the forest to perform severe austerities. By our good

fortune we happened upon you. Everyone's desires and activities become

successful just by your darshan. Thus we humbly ask that you tell us

how our kind king can obtain a son.'

" Hearing

their sincere plea, Lomasa Rishi absorbed himself in deep meditation

for a moment and at once understood the king's previous life. Then he

said, 'Your ruler was a merchant in his past life, and feeling his

wealth insufficient, he committed sinful deeds. He traveled to many

villages to trade his goods. Once, at noon on the day after the

Ekadashi that comes during the light fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha

(Trivikrama – May-June), he became thirsty while traveling from place

to place. He came upon a beautiful pond on the outskirts of a village,

but just as he was about to drink at the pond a cow arrived there with

her new-born calf. These two creatures were also very thirsty because

of the heat, but when the cow and calf started to drink, the merchant

rudely shoved them aside and selfishly slaked his own thirst. This

offense against a cow and her calf has resulted in your king's being

without a son now. But the good deeds he performed in his previous life

have given him rulership over an undisturbed kingdom.'

" Hearing

this, the king's advisers replied, 'Oh renowned rishi, we have heard

that the Vedas say one can nullify the effects of one's past sins by

acquiring merit. Be so kind as to give us some instruction by which our

king's sins can be destroyed; please give him your mercy so that a

prince will take birth in his family.'

" Lomasa

Rishi said, 'There is an Ekadashi called PutradA, which comes during

the light fortnight of the month of Shravana. On this day all of you,

including your king, should fast and stay awake all night, strictly

following the rules and regulations. Then you should give the king

whatever merit you gain by this fast. If you follow these instructions

of mine, he will surely be blessed with a fine son.'

" All

the king's advisers became very pleased to hear these words from Lomasa

Rishi, and they all offered him their grateful obeisances. Then, their

eyes bright with happiness, they returned home.

" When

the month of Shravana arrived, the king's advisers remembered the

advice of Lomasa Rishi, and under their direction all the citizens of

Mahismati-puri, as well as the king, fasted on Ekadashi. And on the

next day, DvAdasi, the citizens dutifully offered their accrued merit

to him. By the strength of all this merit, the queen became pregnant

and eventually gave birth to a most beautiful son.

" O

Yudhisthira, " Lord Krishna concluded, " the Ekadashi that comes during

the light fortnight of the month of Shravana has thus rightfully become

famous as PutradA [ " bestower of a son " ]. Whoever desires happiness in

this world and the next should certainly fast from all grains and

legumes on this holy day. Indeed, whoever simply hears the glories of

PutradA Ekadashi becomes completely free of all sins, is blessed with a

good son, and surely ascends to heaven after death. "

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Pavitropana Ekadashi from the Bhavishya Purana.