SATTILA EKADASI ON 10/1/2010.

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Sat-tila

Ekadasi

Sri Daalbhya Rishi said

to Palastya Muni, "When the spirit soul comes in contact with the material

energy, he immediately begins to perform sinful activities, such as stealing,

killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform many other terrible deeds, such

as killing a brahmin. Oh purest of personalities, please tell me how these

unfortunate souls may escape the punishment of being sent to hellish regions of

creation. Kindly inform me how, by giving even a little in charity, one may be

easily released from the reactions of his sins."

 

Pulastya Muni replied, "Oh fortunate one, you have asked me an important

and confidential question, which not even Brahmaa, Vishnu, Shiva or Indra has

ever asked. Please listen very carefully to my answer.

"With the arrival of the month of Magh (January - February), one should

bathe, carefully control his senses by giving up lust, anger, pride, jealousy,

faultfinding, and greed, and meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Lord Sri Krishna. One should then gather up some cow dung before it touches the

ground and, after mixing it with sesame seeds and cotton, form 108 balls. This

should be done on the day when the constellation of Purva-ashadha nakshatra

arrives. then one should follow the rules and regulations of Sri Ekaadasii,

which I shall now explain to you.

"After bathing, the person who intends to observe Ekaadasii should worship

the Supreme Lord. While praying to Lord Sri Krishna by chanting His holy name,

he should promise to observe the Ekaadasii fast. He should remain awake

overnight and perform a homa (fire sacrifice). Then the devotee should perform

an Arati ceremony for the pleasure of the Lord - Who holds a conch, disk, club,

and so on in His hands - offering Him sandalwood paste to his feet, incense,

camphor, a bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations. Next the devotee

should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and cotton wool into the

sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the Lord as Purusha sukta, and

other names. Throughout the whole day and night he should also observe the

standard Ekaadasii vrata (fast, which in this case is a fast from all kinds of

grains and beans). On this occasion one should offer the Lord pumpkin, coconut,

and guava. If these items are unavailable, betel nut may be substituted.

"The devotee should pray to Lord Sri Janardana, the benefactor of all

living beings, in this way; 'Oh Lord Sri Krishna, You are the most merciful

Personality of Godhead and the giver of liberation to all fallen souls. Oh Lord,

we have fallen into the ocean of material existence. Please be kind to us. Oh

lotus-eyed divinity, please accept our most humble, affectionate and respectful

obeisances. Oh protector of the entire world, we offer You our humble respects

again and again. Oh Supreme Spirit, Oh Supreme One, Oh source of all our

forefathers, may You and Your eternal consort, Srimati Laxmi-devi, please

accept these humble offerings.'

"The devotee should then try to please a qualified brahmin with a warm

welcome, a pot full of water (purna kumbha), an umbrella, a pair of shoes, and

clothes (cloth - dhoti, and anga vaastra), requesting him at the same time to

bestow his blessings, by which one may develop unalloyed love for Lord Sri

Krishna. According to one's ability, one may also donate a black cow to such a

brahmin, particularly to one who is very well versed in all the injunctions of

the Vedic scriptures. One should also offer him a pot full of sesame seeds.

"Oh exalted Daalbhya Muni, black sesame seeds are especially suitable for

formal worship and fire sacrifices while white or brown ones are meant to be

eaten by a qualified brahmin. One who can arrange to give both kinds of sesame

seeds (black and white or brown) especially on this Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii day

will be promoted to at least the heavenly planets after leaving this present

body, for as many thousands of years as the number of seeds that would be

produced if the seeds he donated were sown in the ground and grew into mature,

seed bearing plants.

"On this Ekaadasii a faithful person should (1) bathe in the water mixed

with sesame seeds, (2) rub sesame seed paste on his body, (3) offer sesame

seeds into the fire in sacrifice, (4) eat sesame seeds, (5) give sesame seeds

away in charity, (6) accept charitable gifts of sesame seeds. These are the six

(sat) ways in which sesame seeds (tilaa) are utilised for spiritual

purification on this Ekaadasii. Therefore it is called Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii.

"The great Devarishi Naarad Muni once asked the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, Sri Krishna, 'Oh mighty armed Lord, Oh You who are so affectionate to

Your loving devotees, please accept my most humble obeisances. Oh Yaadava,

kindly tell me the result one obtains by observing Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii.'

"Lord Sri Krishna replied, 'Oh best of the twice born brahmins, I shall

narrate to you an account of an incident I personally witnessed. Long ago on

earth there lived an old female brahmini who worshipped Me every day with

controlled senses. She very faithfully observed many a fast, especially on

special days honouring Me (My various appearance days Janmaasthami,

Rama-navami, Vaman Dwadasi, Nrisimha Chaturdasi, Varaha Dwadasi, Gaura Purnima,

etc. - Calendar) and served Me with full devotion, devoid of any personal

motive. Her rigorous fasting made her quite weak and thin. She gave charity to

brahmanas and to young maidens (kanyas), and even planned to give away her

house in charity. Oh best of the brahmanas although this spiritually minded

woman gave charitable donations to worthy people, the odd feature of her

austerity was that she never gave food to brahmanas or the devas (demigods).

"'I began to reflect on this curious omission: "This fine woman has

purified herself by fasting on all the auspicious occasions and by offering Me

strict devotional worship. Therefore she certainly has become eligible to enter

My personal abode, which is unattainable by ordinary persons." So I came

down to this planet to examine her, disguising Myself as a follower of Lord

Shiva's, complete with a garland of skulls draped around My neck and a begging

pot (kumandalu) in My hand.

"'As I approached her, she said toMe, "Oh respectful one, tell me

truthfully why You have come before me."

"'I replied, "Oh beautiful one, I have come to get some sacred alms

from you" - whereupon she angrily threw a dense lump of mud into My

begging pot! Oh Naarada Muni I simply turned around and went back to My

personal abode, astonished at this fine brahmani's peculiar mixture of great

magnanimity and stinginess.

"'At last this austere lady reached the spiritual world in her self-same

body, so great were her efforts at fasting and charity. And because she had

indeed offered Me a lump of mud, I transformed that mud into a beautiful home.

However, Oh Naradaji, this particular house was just like that mud completely

devoid of any edible grains, as well as any furniture or ornamentation, and

when she entered it she found only an empty structure. She therefore approached

Me and said with great anger, "I have fasted repeatedly on so many auspicious

occasions, making my body weak and thin. I have worshipped You and prayed to

You in so many different ways for You are truly the master and protector of all

the universes. Yet despite all this there is no food or wealth to be seen in my

new home, Oh Janardana, please tell me. Why is this?"

"'I replied, "Please return to your house. Sometime later the wives

of the devas (demigods) will pay you a visit out of curiosity to see the new

arrival, but do not open your door until they have described to you the glories

and importance of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii."

"'Hearing this, she returned to her house. Eventually the devas' wives

arrived there and in unison said, "Oh beautiful one, we have come to have

your darshan. Oh auspicious one, please open the doorto your house and let us

see you.

"'The lady replied, "Oh most dear ones, if you want me to open this

door, you will have to describe to me the merit one obtains by observing the

sacred fast of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii." But to this request, not even one of

the wives responded.

"'Later, however, they returned to the house, and one of the wives nicely

explained the sublime nature of this sacred Ekaadasii. And when the lady at

last opened her door, they saw that she was neither a demigoddess, a Gandharvi,

a she-demon, nor even a Naga-patni. She was simply an ordinary human lady.

"'From then on the lady observed Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, which awards ALL

material enjoyment and liberation at the same time, as it has been described to

her. And she finally received the beautiful furnishings and grains she had

expected for her home. Moreover, her once ordinary material body was

transformed into a beautiful spiritual form made of sac-cid-ananda (eternality,

knowledge,and bliss), with a fine complexion. So, by the mercy and grace of

Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, both the lady and her new home in the spiritual world were

at last radiantly splendid and lustrous with gold, silver, jewels, and

diamonds.

"'Oh Naradaji, a person should not ostentatiously observe Ekaadasii out of

greed, with the hope of attaining wealth dishonestly. Selflessly, he should

simply donate sesame seed, clothes, and food according to his capacity, for by

doing so he will achieve good health and exalted spiritual consciousness, birth

after birth. Ultimately, he will begiven release from the bonds of this world

(liberation) and admittance into the Lord's supreme abode will be his to enjoy.

That is my opinion, Oh best of the demigods deva-rishis).'

"Oh Daalbhya Muni," Pulastya Rishi concluded, "one who properly

observes this wonderful Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii with great faith become free from

all kinds of poverty - spiritual, mental, physical, social, and intellectual -

as well as all kinds of ill luck and evil omens (sakuna). Indeed, following

this Ekaadasii fast by donating, sacrificing, or eating sesame seeds frees one

of all past sin, without a doubt. One need not wonder how this happens. The

rare soul who properly performs these acts of charity in the right devotional

mood, following the Vedic injunctions, will become utterly free of all sinful

reactions and go back to Godhead, back home to the spiritual world."

 

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Magh-krishna Ekaadasii, or Sat-tilaa

Ekaadasii,

from the sacred Bhavishya-uttara Purana of Srila Krishna Dwaipayana Vyaasa.

 

These stories have been summarised and slightly changed or abbreviated from how

they are found in the celebrated book, "Ekadasi: The Day of Lord

Hari" 1986. HH Krishna Balaram Swami. Bhaktivedanta Institute Press. pages

39-44.

 

Note:: Special thanks to

Jaya Tirtha Caran prabhu from NZ for allowing us to use some of the content

from his site to compile these pages - http://www.hknet.org.nz