Fwd: Yogini Ekadasi - Tomorrow 23rd June Monday 2014 - Fasting from grains and beans is observed
Ankur
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From: Damodardesh Yatra <damodard...@gmail.com>
Date: 22 June 2014 17:16:39 GMT+3
To: damodardes...@googlegroups.com, damodard...@googlegroups.com, damodara...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Yogini Ekadasi - Tomorrow 23rd June Monday 2014 - Fasting from grains and beans is observed
Reply-To: damodardesh...@googlegroups.com
--Yogini Ekadasi
Ekadasi: 23rd June 2014, MON (UAE)
Dvadasi Parana Time (UAE only): 24th June 2014
05:29 to 08:42 AM
Observing Fasting on Ekadasi
Sri Ekadasi (Extracts from the Ekadasi Mähätmya)Sri Ekadasi, which falls on the eleventh day of each waxing and waning moon is very dear to Lord Hari. Observing the vow of Ekadasi is among the first ten principles of the sixty four items of devotional service described by Srila Rupa Gosvami. One should observe Ekadasi only to please the Supreme Lord. The meaning of the word upavasa (fasting) is to live nearby. On the day of Ekadasi one should remain aloof from all kinds of sinful activities, give up all kinds of household activities and sense gratification and live near the lord.
In the Brahma-vaivarta Purana it is said that one who observes fasting on Ekadasi day is freed from all kinds of reactions to sinful activities and advances in pious life. The basic principle is not just to fast, but to increase one's faith and love for Govinda, or Krsna. The real reason for observing fasting on Ekadasi is to minimize the demands of the body and to engage our time in the service of the Lord by chanting or performing similar service. The best thing to do on fasting days is to remember the pastimes of Govinda and to hear His holy name constantly."
Nectar of Devotion - (Ch 6)
So the main purpose is to perform more devotional service like chanting, reading or doing personal service to please the Lord, not to achieve any material benefit, but just to get pure devotion on his lotus feet, which is the topmost success of human life.
If you are interested in reading a story from Purana about this Ekadasi, here it is (There might be some sections in this story which emphasize on some sort of fruitive result, we humbly request you, not to get encouraged in that direction and just take benefit of this story to increase the pure devotional service of the Lord, which is untouched by any material desires):
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Glories of Yogini Ekadasi
from Brahma-vaivarta Purana
Yudhisthira Maharaj said, "Oh Supreme Lord, I have heard the glories of the Nirjala Ekadasi, which occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha (May - June). Now I wish to hear from You about the suddha Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi that comes during the dark part of the month of Ashadha. Famous as Yogini Ekadasi, it removes all kinds of sinful reactions and awards supreme liberation.
"Oh best of kings, this Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi 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 Ekadasi. For one who fasts on this sacred Ekadasi, she (Ekadasi Devi), destroys heaps of past sinful reactions and makes him most pious. Oh King, thus I have explained to you the purity of Yogini Ekadasi."
Thus ends the narration of the glories of Ashadha-krishna Ekadasi, or Yogini Ekadasi, from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana.NOTE: If the holy fast falls on Dvadasii, it is still called Ekadasi in the Vedic literature. Furthermore, in Garuda Purana (1:125.6), Lord Brahma states to Narada Muni: "Oh Brahmana, this fast should be observed when there is a full Ekadasi, a mixture of Ekadasi and Dwadashi, or a mixture of three (Ekadasi, Dwadashi, and Trayodasii) but never on the day when there is a mixture of Dashami and Ekadasi.
This is also upheld in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa, Vaishnava smriti shastra, and upheld by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada in his Navadwip Panjika introduction.
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