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Re: On Ekadasi !! Explanation !!

From the Bhakti List Archives

K K • February 11, 2000 


Hi
  Let me share what i know on this, please folks, do
correct me if i am wrong, i am sure some of you better
than what i do!!!

1.  Why is Ekadasi considered Perumal's Ugandha
> thithi ??
    Well if i am sure, there was this bad Asura, who
is been on a  rampage almost killing each and
everyone, and there is nothing that could stop him,
and finally when the devas begged the mercy of Lord
Lakshmi Narayana, he chased him and went round and
round and round all over the universe, and finally at
one point, when Narayana got tired chasing him, he was
resting on a cave shelter, and then the Asura
misteriously appeared iside the cave, and was holding
a bigggg Rock, to through on Him, as Narayana was
asleep, their was this power in him, which is the
Omnipotent, and Omnipresent, and Omnipower in him,
that came out bursting as a lady with somuch of force
inher, and took a knief and chooped the Asuras head.
When Narayana got up, and saw the mistery, I believe
he then Understood, the magnanimity of the potency of
the Lady and asked her who she is, She then replied
that she is Eka Dasi, which means Eka, meaning (One)
Dasi, meaning (servant) !!! she is one Servent, who is
always protecting and serving lord Narayana eternally,
(Well what a wonderful Job discription she has !!)
anyway then Narayana blessed her with atmost kindness,
that her day which is the 11th day of full moon, or
new moon day, will be considered as auspecious, and
that if one would observe the day of fasting and
dedicate the punya karma, or do the fasting in the
prethyartham of Lord Narayana, then they would have
the benefits accordingly...!!! Lord then claimed that
He is going to have her recognized for her actions
though out the generations to come, and so, he then
blessed her with ekadasi day as the most precious day
for him...!!! 

3. Why should rice be not consumed on ekadasi ??
>     4. If one is not supposed to eat anything on
> ekadasi day, do we not offer 
> anything to Perumal also ??

Well according to the puranas, the sin personified is
been blessed with the boon of living on rice, as such
that if one takes rice, they would accumilate Sin in
thier body !!!!  Its just not eating Rice, alone,
there are bunch of other things to be followed through
too, like even if one is married they are not suppose
to sleep with their wife, and should abstain from
sexual practice on that day !! their are various
reasons, for this it can go on and on and on, but let
me just keep it simple for now, if anyone wants to
know agian, pls do write !!!!

Its wrong not to offer anything to God, these
restrictions are for us, ofcourse Ekadasi is most
preethi to Him, but we can offer anything to Narayana,
thats nothing wrong in it... we shouldnt waste it at
the same time, you can either take that prasadam, the
day after, or give to someone who is not following the
day,or give to cows !!!! 

There is a great Story on Dwadasi, which everyone
should recall, its the story of Durvasa muni, and
Amabarisha Maharishi !! 
When Ambarisha maharishi, follows Ekadasi meticulesly
every month, he always feed the other Bhagavathas, and
Brahmanas before he breaks the fast, on one fine day,
when Durvasamuni bumbed into him, he then invited Him
for Dwadasi feast.  Durvasamuni accepted the
Invitation, and requested him to wait, till he
finishes his Sandhyavandhana, and other morning
rituals for the muni, and so he went to the banks of
the river for a bath and etc... The time is running
out but he is not back yet, in reality, one should
break the fast before the Dwadasi time finishes, on
that particular day it was quiet fast, and so the time
is running out, the situation is that Ambarisha has to
break the fast before Dwadasi meaning he has to eat
the prasadam, but at the same time, he has to wait for
Durvasamuni ( who is a maha kopi) so he is afraid and
so he consulted his family priest and by his advice,
he took a glass of water to break the fast and it also
helps the purpose of not breaking the promise of
having lunch with the Muni !!! Well a few hours later,
when Durvasamuni shows up, he realizes that Ambarisha
broke his fast by having a glass of water, and so he
gets mad, and he picks up a mat lock from his hair,
and toss it over the ground and creates a big monster
out of it, and orders him to kill Ambarisha, 
Well at this point of time, Ambarisha never ran for
his life, he simply put his palms together and
accepted the fate, but Miracles do happen in no time,
there care SRI SUDHARSHANA CHAKRA and killed the
monster, and started chassing Durvasa, then he ran and
ran and ran, he then went to Siva Loka and asked for
protection, Siva said i am under the mercy of lord
Narayana,  and that Chakra belongs to Him there is no
way i can protect you from !! Then he ran to Brahma,
Brahma then said, even i am under the mercy of my
father who is Lord Narayana, and so i cannot protect
you from that Chakra either, so better go to Him, so
then he took the advice and went to Lord Sriman
Narayana, and requested to stop the Chakra, !!! Well
guess what folks, He then said, poor Durvasa, you are
not realizing one thing, The one and only job of my
Sudharshana Chakra is to protect my Devotees from any
trouble, or any difficulties they have... and at this
point believe it or not, i am under the control of my
Devotees, so even i cannot protect you either, so
better go back to Ambarisha Maharishi, and fall at his
feet and ask for apoligies and if he could forgive
you, then the Chakra will not do any harm to you...
Muni then went back and did the same and Ambarisha
being a great mercyful person, has fogiven Durvasa,
and so the chakra kept him alive and went back to His
Narayana... well the moral of the story is that If one
believes in Narayana, no matter what happens they are
always protected under his gracious divine Vatsalyam
for his devotees and to everyone on this Universe....
!!!

Following Ekadasi is a wonderful thing to do, and
those who do, will certainly be blessed with every
single happiness in Life....

Well here are the rules i know so far,,,

Fast till you can even without water
If you cannot take some water, Sitll cant
take some fruit juice or Milk !!
Still cant eat some fruits,
still cant then eat anything not cooked..
well its called Pala-aaharam it means not Idli,
dosai,or poori, or chappati, well its self explainale,

Pala ithi aahaaram, thats why its called
Paalaahaaram..

well i hope the explanation helps, i am sorry if i am
wrong in anyways, please do correct me if something is
missing in this explanation...

Thanks for your time

Krishna Kanumalla







--- Ramanbil@aol.com wrote:
> Dear Bhagavatas
> A Bhagavata in our group has posed the following
> queries. I would like to 
> have the views of other Bhagavatas before giving him
> a final reply. Can 
> anyone help?
> Thanks
> Dasoham
> Anbil Ramaswamy
>
============================================================
>     1.  Why is Ekadasi considered Perumal's Ugandha
> thithi ??
>     2.  Which kAndam of Vedas / puranas talks about
> Ekadasi ??  
>     3. Why should rice be not consumed on ekadasi ??
>     4. If one is not supposed to eat anything on
> ekadasi day, do we not offer 
> anything to Perumal also ??
>
=============================================================
> 
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