NITAAI-Veda.nyf > Holy Days of the Year > Ekadashi > Kaamaika Ekadasi Jul-Aug |
Title: Kaamaika Ekadashi Jul-Aug
User: Damodara Svarupa dasa Date: 2005-02-18 16:15:21
The saintly king
Yudhisthira maharaj said, “Oh Supreme Lord, I have heard from You the glories
of fasting on Deva-sayani EkAdasii, which occurs during the light fortnight of
the month of AshADha. Now I would like to hear from You the glories of the
EkAdasii that occurs during the dark fortnight (krishna paksha) of the month of
ShrAvaNa (July –August). Oh Govindadeva, please be merciful to me and explain
its glories. Oh Supreme VAsudeva, I offer my most humble obeisances unto You.”
The Supreme Lord, Shri
Krishna, replied, “Oh King, please listen attentively as I describe the
auspicious influence of this Holy fast (vrata) day, which removes all sins. Narada
Muni once asked Lord BrahmA about this same topic. ‘Oh regent of all beings,’
said NAradji, ‘Oh you who sit upon a water born lotus throne, please tell me
the names of the EkAdasii that occurs during the dark fortnight of the sacred
month of ShrAvaNa. Please also tell me which Deity is to be worshipped on that
Holy day, the process one must follow to observe it, and the merit it awards.’
“Lord BrahmA replied, ‘My
dear son Narada, for the benefit of all humanity I shall happily tell you
everything you wish to know, for just hearing the glories of the KAmikA
EkAdasii bestows merit equal to that obtained by one who performs a horse
sacrifice. Certainly, great merit is attained by one who worships, and who also
meditates on the lotus feet of the four-armed Lord GadAdhara, who holds
conchshell, disc, club and lotus in His hands and who is also known as
Shridhara, Hari, Vishnu, Madhava, and MadhusUdana. And the blessings achieved
by such a person / devotee, who worships Lord Vishnu exclusively are far greater
than those achieved by one who takes a sacred bath in the Ganges at KAshi
(VarANasii), in the forest of NaimishAraNya, or at Pushkara, which is the only
place on the planet where I am formally worshipped. But one who observes this
KAmikA EkAdasii and also worships Lord Shri Krishna achieves greater merit than
one who has darshana of Lord KedAranAtha in the HimAlayas, or one who bathes at
Kurukshetra during a solar eclipse, or one who donates the whole Earth in
charity, including its forests and oceans, or one who bathes in the GaNDaki
River (where the sacred Shaligrams are found) or the GodAvari River on a full
moon (purnima) day that falls on a Monday when Leo (Simha) and Jupiter (Guru)
are conjoined (conjunct).
“ ’Observing KAmikA
EkAdasii bestows the same merit as donating a milk-cow and her auspicious calf,
along with their feed. On this all auspicious day, whosoever worships Lord Shri
Shridhara-deva, Vishnu, is glorified by all the devas, Gandharvas, Pannagas,
and NAgas.
“ ‘Those who are afraid
of their past sins and completely immersed in sinful materialistic life should
at least observe this best of EkAdasiis according to their ability and thus
attain liberation. This EkAdasii is the purest of all days and the most
powerful for removing sins of the native. Oh Narada ji, Lord Shri Hari Himself
once said about this EkAdasii, “One who fasts on KAmikA EkAdasii attains much
more merit than one who studies all the spiritual literatures.”
“ ‘Anyone who fasts on
this particular day remains awake throughout the night will never experience
the anger of YamarAja, the king of death personified. It has been seen that
whoever observes KAmikA EkAdasii will not have to suffer future births, and in
the past too, many Yogis of devotion who fasted on this day went to the
spiritual world. One should therefore follow in their auspicious footsteps and
strictly observe a fast on this most auspicious of EkAdasiis.
“ ‘Whosoever worships
Lord Shri Hari with Tulasi leaves is freed from all implication of sin. Indeed,
he lives untouched by sin, as the lotus leaf, although in the water, is
untouched by it. Whosoever offers Lord Shri Hari but a single leaf from the
sacred Tulasi tree (occillium basilcum sanctum) attains as much merit as one
who gives away in charity two hundred grams of gold and eight hundred grams of
silver. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is more pleased by one who offers
Him a single Tulasi leaf than by one who worships Him with pearls, rubies,
topaz, diamonds, lapis lazuli, sapphires, gomedA stones (gomaz), cat’s eye
gems, and coral. One who offers Lord Keshava newly grown maNjari buds from the
Tulasi plant gets rid of all the sins he has committed during this or any other
lifetime. Indeed, mere darshana of Tulasi on KAmikA EkAdasii removes all sins,
and merely touching her and praying to her removes all kinds of disease. One
who waters Tulasi devi need never fear the Lord of death, YamarAja. One who
plants or transplants Tulasi on this days will eventually reside with Lord Shri
Krishna in His own abode. To Shrimati Tulasi devi, who awards liberation in
devotional service, one should therefore daily offer one’s full obeisances.
“ ‘Even Chitragupta,
YamarAja’s secretary, cannot calculate the merit obtained by one who offers
Shrimati Tulasi-devi a perpetually burning ghee lamp. So dear is this sacred
EkAdasii to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that all the forefathers of one
who offers a bright ghee lamp to Lord Shri Krishna on this day ascend to the
heavenly planets and drink the celestial nectar there. Whoever offers a ghee or
sesame oil lamp to Shri Krishna on this day is freed from all his sins and
enters the abode of Surya, the Sun-god, with a body as bright as ten million
lamps. This EkAdasii is so powerful that if one who is unable to fast simply
follows the practices as mentioned herein, s/he is elevated to the heavenly
planets, along with all their forefathers.
“ ‘Oh Maharaj
Yudhisthira,” Lord Shri Krishna concluded, “…these were the words of prajapathi
BrahmA to his son Narada Muni concerning the incalculable glories of this
KAmikA EkAdasii, which removes all sins. This sacred day nullifies even the sin
of killing a brAhmaNa or the sin of killing an unborn child in the womb, and it
promotes one to the spiritual world by making one supremely meritorious.
One who kills the
innocent, i.e., a brahmin (brAhmaNa), a child in the womb, a pious and spotless
woman, etc., and then later hears about the glories of KAmikA EkAdasii will be
relieved of the reaction to one’s sins. However, one should NOT think beforehand
that one can kill a Brahmin or other innocent folk and then go unpunished
simply by hearing of this EkAdasii. Such knowing commission of sin is an
abomination.
Whosoever hears these
glories of the KAmikA EkAdasii with faith becomes free of all sins and returns
home, back to Godhead – Vishnu-loka, Vaikuntha.
Thus ends the narration
of the glories of the ShrAvaNa-kRshNa EkAdasii, or KAmikA EkAdasii, from the
Brahma-Vaivarta PurANa.