Papankusa Ekadashi - Tue 3rd Oct, 2006

[Guest guest]

Yudhisthira Maharaja said, " O Madhusudana, what is the

name of the

Ekadasi that occurs during the light fortnight of the

month of Asvina

[september-October] ? Please be merciful and tell this

to me. "

 

The Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, replied, " O king, please

listen as I

explain the glories of this Ekadasi - Papankusa

Ekadasi-which removes

all sins. On this day one should worship the Deity of

Padmanabha, the

lotus-naveled Lord, according to the rules and

regulations. By doing so,

one achieves whatever heavenly pleasures he wants in

this world and at

last attains liberation. Simply by offering one's

humble obeisances unto

Lord Visnu, the rider of Garuda, once can achieve the

same merit as is

won by performing great penances for a long time with

completely

controlled senses. Although a person might have

committed unlimited

sins, he can still escape hell just by paying his

obeisances to Lord

Hari, who removes all sins.

 

The merits gained by going on pilgrimage to tirthas of

this earthly

planet can also be achieved simply by chanting the

holy names of Lord

Visnu. Whoever chants these sacred names-such as Rama,

Visnu, Janardana,

or Krsna - especially on Ekadasi, never sees

Yamaraja's abode. Nor does

one who fasts on Papankusa Ekadasi, which is so dear

to Me, see that abode.

 

Both the Vaisnava who criticizes Lord Siva and the

Saivite who

criticizes Me certainly go to hell. The merit obtained

by performing one

thousand horse sacrifices and one hundred Rajasuya

sacrifices is not

equal to even one sixteenth of the merit a person

obtains by fasting on

Ekadasi. There is no higher merit one can achieve than

that attained by

fasting on Ekadasi. Indeed, nothing in all the three

worlds is as

pleasing or as able to purify one of sin as Ekadasi,

the day of the

lotus-naveled Lord, Padmanabha.

 

O king, until a person observes a fast on the day of

Lord Padmanabha

named Papankusa Ekadasi, he remains sinful, and the

reactions of his

past sinful deeds never leave him. There is no merit

in all the three

worlds that can match the merit one attains by

observing a fast on this

Ekadasi. Whoever observes it faithfully never has to

see death

personified, Lord Yamaraja. One who desires

liberation, heaven, good

health, beautiful women, wealth, and food grains

should simply fast on

this Ekadasi. O King, neither the Ganges, Gaya, Kam,

nor Puskara, nor

even the holy site of Kuruksetra, can grant as much

merit as Papankusa

Ekadasi.

 

O Yudhisthira, protector of the earth, after observing

Ekadasi during

the daytime, the devotee should remain awake through

the night, for by

doing so he easily attains to the abode of the Supreme

Lord, Sri Visnu.

Ten generations of ancestors on his mother's side, ten

generations on

his father's side, and ten generations on his wife's

side are all

liberated by a single observance of a fast on this

Ekadasi. All these

ancestors attain their original, four-armed,

transcendental forms.

Wearing yellow garments and beautiful garlands, they

ride to the

spiritual world on the back of Garuda, the enemy of

the snakes. This is

the benediction My devotee earns simply by observing

one Papankusa

Ekadasi properly.

 

O best of kings, whether one is a child, a youth, or

an old person,

fasting on Papankusa Ekadasi frees him of sins and

makes him immune to

suffering a hellish rebirth. Whoever observes a fast

on this Ekadasi

becomes free of all his sins and returns to the abode

of Lord Hari.

Whoever donates gold, sesame seeds, fertile land,

cows, grain, drinking

water, an umbrella, or a pair of shoes on this most

holy day will never

have to visit the abode of Yamaraja, who always

punishes sinners. But if

a resident of earth fails to perform spiritual deeds,

especially the

observance of a fast on holy days such as Ekadasi, his

breathing is said

to be no better than the puffing of a blacksmith's

bellows.

 

O best of kings, especially on Papankusa Ekadasi, even

the poor should

first bathe and then give some charity and perform

other auspicious

activities according to their ability. Whoever

performs sacrifices or

builds public ponds, resting places, gardens, or

houses does not suffer

the punishments of Yamaraja. Indeed, one should

understand that a person

must have performed such pious activities as these in

his past life if

he is long-lived, wealthy, of high birth, or free from

all diseases. But

a person who observes Papankusa Ekadasi goes to the

abode of the Supreme

Lord.

 

Lord Krsna concluded, " Thus, O saintly Yudhisthira, I

have narrated to

you the glories of Papankusa Ekadasi. Please question

me further if you

wish to hear more about Ekadasi. "