PAvitropAna or PutradA EkAdasii: from the Bhavishya Purana
Harigopal Dasa
Shri Yudhisthira Maharaja said, "Oh Madhusudana, Oh killer of the
Madhu demon, please be merciful to me and describe to me the EkAdasii
that occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Shravana (July-
August)." The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, replied, "Yes, Oh king, I
shall happily narrate its glories to you, for just by hearing about
this sacred EkAdasii one attains the merit of performing a horse
sacrifice.
"At the dawn of DvArpara-yuga there lived a king by the name of
Mahijita, who ruled the kingdom of Mahismati-puri. Because he had no
son, his entire kingdom seemed utterly cheerless to him. A married
man who has no son gains no happiness in this life or the next.
The Sanskrit word for 'son' is putra. Pu is the name of a particular
hell, and tra means 'to deliver.' Thus the word putra means 'a person
who delivers one from the hell named Pu.' Therefore every married man
should produce at least one son and train him properly; then the
father will be delivered from a hellish condition of life. But this
injunction does not apply to the serious devotees of Lord Vishnu or
Krishna, for the Lord becomes their son, father, and mother.
Furthermore, ChANakya Pandita says,
satyam mata pita jnanam
dharmo bhrata daya sakha
santih patni ksama putrah
sadete mama vandhavah
"The truth is my mother, knowledge is my father, my occupational duty
is my brother, kindness is my friend, tranquillity is my wife, and
forgiveness is my son. These six are my family members." Among the
twenty-six leading qualities of a devotee of the Lord, forgiveness is
the topmost. Therefore devotees should make an extra endeavour to
develop this quality. Here ChANakya says "forgiveness is my son," and
thus a devotee of the Lord, even though he may be on the path of
renunciation, may observe PutradA EkAdasii and pray to attain this
kind of "son."
For a long time this king tried very hard to obtain an heir, but to no
avail. Seeing his years advancing ever onwards, King Mahijita became
increasingly anxious. One day he told an assembly of his advisers:
'I have committed no sin in this life, and there is no ill-gotten
wealth in my treasury. I have never usurped the offerings to the
demigods or brahmanas. When I waged war and conquered kingdoms, I
followed the rules and regulations of the military art, and I have
protected my subjects as if they were my own children. I punished
even my own relatives if they broke the law, and if my enemy was
gentle and religious I welcomed him. Oh twice-born souls, although I
am a religious and faithful follower of the Vedik standards, still my
home is without a son. Kindly tell me the reason for this.'
"Hearing this, the king's brahmana advisers discussed the subject
among themselves, and with the aim of benefiting the king they visited
the various ashrams of the great sages. At last they came upon a sage
who was austere, pure, and self-satisfied, and who was strictly
observing a vow of fasting. His senses were completely under control,
he had conquered his anger, and he was expert at performing his
occupational duty. Indeed, this great sage was expert in all the
conclusions of the Vedas, and he had extended his life span to that of
Lord Brahma himself. His name was Lomasa Rishi, and he knew part,
present, and future. After each kalpa passed, one hair would fall out
of his body ( One kalpa, or twelve hours of Lord Brahma, equals
4,320,000,000 years.) All the king's brahmana advisers very happily
approached him one by one to offer their humble respects.
"Captivated by this great soul, King Mahijita's advisers offered
obeisances to him and said very respectfully, 'Only because of our
great good fortune, Oh sage, have we been allowed to see you.'
"Lomasa Rishi saw them bowing down to him and replied, 'Kindly let me
know why you have come here. Why are you praising me? I must do all
I can to solve your problems, for sages like me have only one
interest: to help others. Do not doubt this.'
Lomasa Rishi had all good qualities because he was a devotee of the
Lord. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (5:18:12),
yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akinchana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna
manorathenasati dhavato bahih
"In one who has unflinching devotional service to Krishna, all the
good qualities of Krishna and the demigods are consistently manifest.
However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead
has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction
in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord."
"The king's representatives said, 'We have come to you, Oh exalted
sage, to ask for your help in solving a very serious problem. Oh
sage, you are like Lord Brahma. Indeed, there is no better sage in
the entire world. Our king, Mahijita, is without a son, though he has
sustained and protected us as if we were his sons. Seeing him so
unhappy on account of being sonless, we have become very sad, Oh sage,
and therefore we have entered the forest to perform severe
austerities. By our good fortune we happened upon you. Everyone's
desires and activities become successful just by your darshana. Thus
we humble ask that you tell us how our kind king can obtain a son.'
"Hearing their sincere plea, Lomasa Rishi absorbed himself in deep
meditation for a moment and at once understood the king's previous
life. Then he said, 'Your ruler was a merchant in his past life, and
feeling his wealth insufficient, he committed sinful deeds. He
traveled to many villages to trade his goods. Once, at noon on the
day after the EkAdasii that comes during the light fortnight of the
month of Jyeshtha (Trivikrama - May-June), he became thirsty while
traveling from place to place. He came upon a beautiful pond on the
outskirts of a village, but just as he was about to drink at the pond
a cow arrived there with her new-born calf. These two creatures were
also very thirsty because of the heat, but when the cow and calf
started to drink, the merchant rudely shoved them aside and selfishly
slaked his own thirst. This offense against a cow and her calf has
resulted in your king's being without a son now. But the good deeds
he performed in his previous life have given him rulership over an
undisturbed kingdom.'
"Hearing this, the king's advisers replied, 'Oh renowned rishi, we
have heard that the Vedas say one can nullify the effects of one's
past sins by acquiring merit. Be so kind as to give us some
instruction by which our king's sins can be destroyed; please give him
your mercy so that a prince will take birth in his family.'
"Lomasa Rishi said, 'There is an EkAdasii called PutradA, which comes
during the light fortnight of the month of Shravana. On this day all
of you, including your king, should fast and stay awake all night,
strictly following the rules and regulations. Then you should give
the king whatever merit you gain by this fast. If you follow these
instructions of mine, he will surely be blessed with a fine son.'
"All the king's advisers became very pleased to hear these words from
Lomasa Rishi, and they all offered him their grateful obeisances.
Then, their eyes bright with happiness, they returned home.
"When the month of Shravana arrived, the king's advisers remembered
the advice of Lomasa Rishi, and under their direction all the citizens
of Mahismati-puri, as well as the king, fasted on EkAdasii. And on
the next day, DvAdasi, the citizens dutifully offered their accrued
merit to him. By the strength of all this merit, the queen became
pregnant and eventually gave birth to a most beautiful son.
"O Yudhisthira," Lord Krishna concluded, "the EkAdasii that comes
during the light fortnight of the month of Shravana has thus
rightfully become famous as PutradA ["bestower of a son"]. Whoever
desires happiness in this world and the next should certainly fast
from all grains and legumes on this holy day. Indeed, whoever simply
hears the glories of PutradA EkAdasii becomes completely free of all
sins, is blessed with a good son, and surely ascends to heaven after
death."
Thus ends the narration of the glories of Shravana-sukla EkAdasii, or
PutradA EkAdasii, from the Bhavishya Purana.