The glories of Kamika Ekadasi

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The glories of Kamika Ekadasi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The glories of 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 Ekadashii, which occurs

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

hear from You the glories of the Ekadashii 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

Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii 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

Ekadashiis according to their ability and thus attain liberation. This

Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii, "One who fasts on KAmikA Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii

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 Ekadashiis.

"

'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 Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii, 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

Ekadashii 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

Ekadashii. Such knowing commission of sin is an abomination.

Whosoever

hears these glories of the KAmikA Ekadashii 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 Ekadashii, or KAmikA Ekadashii, from the Brahma-Vaivarta PurANa

..