CONTENTS:
- How to observe Ekadasi, Part 1;
- Srila Prabhupada's Appreciation;
- Guru Maharaja’s Instructions.
1. HOW TO OBSERVE EKADASI PART 1
One day Krishna went to Yamalaya, the abode of Yamaraja. When He went there He heard the sound of crying in pain coming from the Southern region so Krishna asked Yamaraja why people were crying like that. Yamaraja said that these people are sinners that are being punished and that’s why out of pain they are crying. Krishna said, “They are being punished? You are doing your duty but I am their Creator so must do something for them so that they can become free from their suffering condition.” So, right there, Krishna created Ekadasi and that was on the Ekadasi day. Ekadasi means the eleventh day.
The Vedic calculation of time is according to the lunar movement. The moon moves from new moon Amavasya when there is no moon towards full moon and it takes fifteen days. Fifteen days of sukla paksha and fifteen days of Krishna paksha and the thirty days makes a month. In a month there are two Ekadasi days.
Ekadasi is the day that Krishna created this personality and this personality is a female. She is very beautiful, kind and merciful and that is Ekadasi devi. Krishna made the arrangement when one observe Ekadasi, he will become free from all sinful reactions. So, now people just started to observe Ekadasi and became free from all sinful reactions. There is a personality of sin Papurusa and his body is made of different types of sins. There are various types of sins like telling a lie, stealing, illicit sex, eating meat, drinking liquor, etc and those sins make the body of Papurusa. When there is no sin what will happen to Papurusa? He won’t have his body. As a result of that he became very emaciated, thin and weak and he was dying. He became so weak that he could not even walk. With a lot of difficulty, he was staggering and came to Krishna and seeing Papurusa in that condition
Krishna asked, “What happened to you? Why are you in such a condition?”
Papurusa said, “My Lord, I am also Your creation but ever since You created Ekadasi, everyone is observing Ekadasi and becoming free from sinful reactions and as a result of this there is no sin and I am dying so please save me.”
Krishna said, “Ok, from now on all the sins from day on Ekadasi will enter into grains and even if somebody did not create that sinful activities but if he eats grains he will be liable to those sinful actions.”
So, that is why on Ekadasi days we especially do not eat grains. But just not eating grains is not observing Ekadasi, observing Ekadasi means fasting and fasting means not eating at all. Most of us cannot observe Ekadasi properly therefore Krishna made some special arrangement and this arrangement He made for Bhima. Bhima could not fast, his name was Vrikodar, he was always hungry like a wolf, his stomach was like that of a wolf and a wolf is famous for its hunger. The fire is always burning in his stomach and Bhima could not fast and he told Krishna, “Krishna, I can’t fast. You have suggested that we observe Ekadasi to become free from sinful reactions but I cannot fast.” So, then Krishna said, “Ok, you can’t fast for all the Ekadasis, observe just one Ekadasi and that will give you the benefit of observing all the Ekadasis.” So that is called Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi or Bhima Ekadasi because this Ekadasi was especially designed for Bhima.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
One afternoon Srila Prabhupada called me to his room, gave me a stack of Bengali letters and asked me to reply to them. I read them out to him, and he told me what points to make in response. There was no Bengali typewriter at that time, so I handwrote the drafts, brought them to Prabhupada, and read them aloud to him. He made corrections, and then I wrote out the replies on his letterhead and took them to him to sign.
When all the Bengali letters had been answered, Prabhupada asked me whether I knew how to write in Hindi. I said that I could but my Hindi handwriting was not very nice. He just smiled and said, “Actually, nobody’s Hindi handwriting is nice.” And then he told me a joke: “Once, a man received a letter from his friend in Hindi and he wrote back to him saying that the next time he wrote to him he should send him the train fare to go see him. When his friend asked why, the man wrote back saying that in order to understand what his friend had written, he would have to go see him. Only he could decipher what he had written.” We both laughed, and Srila Prabhupada gave me a stack of Hindi letters. His joke had given me a little confidence, and thereafter I replied to his letters in Hindi as well as Bengali.
(Excerpt from page 86 and 87 of “Ocean of Mercy”, book written by HH Bhakti Charu Swami)
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
Whenever we think of joy, the basis or ultimate source of joy is love.
(The content of this E-magazine is based a lecture given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami on 9 June 2014 in New Orleans)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Dasi)