Ekadasi Alert: Wed 11th July 2007

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Yogini

Ekadasi

Date : Wed 11th July 2007

 

Breakfast: 06:00 AM - 10:17 AM Next day ***

---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.-----------------------------*** Date and breakfast timing mentioned is for Bangalore city (India).

Please visit http://vcal.iskcongbc.org/ for other places.