[Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] story of Ekadasi

[Guest guest]

Jai Sreekrishna Thank you Padmaji for this story of Ekadasi from which I could gather addititional information on this great day ie.e, "Ekadasi" Humbly Syamalapadmamkumar <padmamkumar wrote: HARE KRISHNAThe story of Ekadasi This description is from the fourteenth chapter of Padma Purana from the section entitled "Kriya- sagara- sara"Once the great sage Jaimini Rsi asked his spiritual master

Srila Vyasadeva "Oh Gurudeva ! When did Ekadasi take birth and from whom did she appear ? What are the rules of fasting on Ekadasi? Please describe the benefits of following this vow and when it should be followed. Who is the utmost worship able presiding deity of Sri Ekadashi ? What are the faults in not following Ekadasi properly? Please bestow your mercy upon me and tell about these subjects, as you are the only personality able to do so ".Srila Vyasdeva upon hearing this enquiry of Jaimini Rsi became situated in transcendental bliss. " Oh brahmana sage Jaimini Rsi ! The results of following Ekadasi can only be perfectly described by the Supreme Lord, Narayana because Sri Narayana is the only personality capable of describing them in full. But I will give a very brief description in answer to your question."At the beginning of the material creation, the Supreme Lord created the moving and non moving

living entities with this world made of five gross material elements. Simultaneously, for the purpose of punishing the human beings, He created a personality whose form was the embodiment of sin ( Papapurusha ). The different limbs of this personality were constructed of the various sinful activities. His head was made of sin of murdering a Brahman, his two eyes were the form of the sin of drinking intoxicants, his mouth was made of the sin of stealing gold, his ears were the form of the sin of having illicit connection with the spiritual master's wife, his nose of the sin of killing one's wife, his arms the form of the sin of killing a cow, his neck made of the sin of stealing accumulated wealth , his chest of the sin of abortion, his lower chest of the sin of having sex with another's wife, his stomach of the sin of killing one's relatives, his navel of the sin of killing those who are dependent on him , his waist

of the sin of self appraisal, his thighs of the sin of offending the guru, his genital of the sin of selling one's daughter, his buttocks of the sin of telling confidential matters, his feet of the sin of killing one's father and his hair the form of lesser less severe sinful activities . In this way a horrible personality embodying all the sinful activities and vices was created. His bodily color is black and his eyes are yellow. He inflicts extreme misery upon sinful persons"."The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, upon seeing this personality of sin, began to think to Himself as follows: " I am the creator of the miseries and happiness for the living entities. I am their master because I have created this personality of sin who gives distress to all dishonest, deceitful and sinful persons. Now I must create someone who will control this personality. ` At this time Sri Bhagavan created the personality

known as Yamraja and the different hellish planetary systems. Those living entities who are very sinful will be sent after death to Yamraj who will in turn according to their sins send them to a hellish region to suffer." After these adjustments had been made, the Supreme Lord, who is the giver of distress and happiness to the living entities went to the house Yamraj , with the help of Garuda, the king of birds. When Yamraj saw that Lord Vishnu had arrived, he immediately washed His feet and made an offering unto Him. He then had Him sit upon a golden throne. The Supreme Lord, Vishnu, became seated on the throne, whereupon He heard very loud crying sounds coming from the southern direction. He became surprised by this and thus enquired from Yamraj. ` From where is this loud crying coming ?'Yamraj in reply said " Oh Deva ! The different living entities of the earthly planetary systems have fallen into the

hellish regions. They are suffering extremely for their misdeeds. The horrible crying is because of suffering from the inflictions of their past bad karma.After hearing this, the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, went to the hellish region to the south. When the inhabitants saw who had come they began to cry even louder. The heart of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, became filled with compassion. Lord Vsihnu thought to Himself " I have created all this progeny, and it is because of Me that they are suffering'.Srila Vyasadeva continued: " Oh Jaimini, just listen to what the Supreme Lord did next. " After the merciful Supreme Lord thought over what He had previously considered, He suddenly manifested from His own form the deity of the lunar day Ekadasi'. Afterwards the different sinful living entities began to follow the vow of Ekadasi and were then elevated quickly to the abode of Vaikuntha. Oh my child Jaimini,

therefore the lunar day of Ekadasi is the selfsame form of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, and the Supersoul within the heart of the living entities. Sri Ekadasi is the utmost pious activity and is situated as the head among all vows. Following the ascension of Sri Ekadasi that personality who is the form of the sinful activity gradually saw the influence she had. He approached Lord Vishnu with doubts in his heart and began offering many prayers, whereupon Lord Vishnu became very pleased and said, ` I have become very pleased by your nice offering. What boon is it that you want?' Papapurusha replied , ` I am your creator progeny, and it is through me that you wanted distress given to the living entities who are very sinful. But now, by the influence of Sri Ekadasi, I have become all but destroyed. Oh Prabhu ! After I die all of your parts and parcels who have accepted material bodies will become liberated and

therefore return to the abode of Vaikuntha. If this liberation of all living entities take place, then who will carry on Your activities? There will be no one to enact the pastimes in the earthly planetary system! Oh Keshava ! if You want these eternal pastimes to carry on, then You please save me from the fear of Ekadasi. No type of pious activity can bind me. But Ekadasi only, being Your manifested form, can impede me. Out of fear of Sri Ekadasi ! I have fled and taken shelter of men, animals, insects, hills, tress, moving and non moving living entities, rivers, oceans, forests, heavenly, earthly and hellish planetary systems, the devas and the Gandarvas. I cannot find a place where I can be free from fear of Sri Ekadasi. Oh my Master! I am a product of Your creation, so therefore very mercifully direct me to a place where I can reside fearlessly. Srila Vyasadeva then said to Jaimini, " After saying this,

the embodiment of all sinful activities ( Papapurusha ) fell down at the feet of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, who is the destroyer of all miseries and began to cry."After this, Lord Vishnu, observing the condition of the Papapurursha with laughter, bagan to speak thus: " Oh Papapurusha ! Rise up ! Don't lament any longer. Just listen and I'll tell you where you can stay on the auspicious lunar day of Ekadasi. On the day of Ekadasi which is the benefactor of the three worlds, you can take shelter of foodstuffs in the form of grains. There is no reason to worry about this any more, because My form as Sri Ekadasi Devi will no longer impede you. ` After giving direction to the Papapurusha, the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, disappeared and the Papapurusha returned to the performance of his own activities." Therefore those persons who are serious about the ultimate benefit for the soul will never eat grains on the Ekadasi

tithi. According to the instruction of Lord Vishnu, every kind of sinful activity that can be found in the material world takes its residence in this place of foodstuff (grains). Whoever follows Ekadasi is freed from all sins and never enters into hellish regions. So on Ekadasi, don't eat grains, don't eat grains , don't eat grains ..What Constitutes "Grains" on EkadasiFood grains like wheat, rice and beans (pulses) must be avoided. Mustard seeds, asafateoda, sesame seeds are also to be avoided. Do not use any cooking ingredients that might be mixed with grains, such as ghee that has been used to fry puris or spices touched by hands dusted with chapatti flour. Avoid corn oil or any other vegetable oil on this day . Coconut oil and ghee can be used .Fruits, dry fruits, milk and milk products like paneer can be taken on this day .Someone who is strictly observing Ekadasi should avoid all spices

except pepper, rock salt and cumin. Sabu dana can also be taken on this day .Hare Krishna Padma

Check out the all-new Mail beta - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.