Sri Garga Samhita
BY: SUN STAFF
Feb 24, CANADA (SUN) —
Canto Four, Volume Two
Chapter Eight
Yajna-sitopakhyana ekadasi-mahatmya
In the Story of the Yajna-sitas, the Glories of Ekadasi
Text 1
sri-narada uvaca
gopinam yajna-sitanam
akhyanam srinu maithila
sarva-papa-haram punyam
kamadam mangalayanam
Sri Narada said: O king of Mithila, please hear the story of
the yajna-sitas that beame gopis, a sacred and auspicious
story that fulfills all desires and removes all sins.
Text 2
usinaro nama deso
dakshinasyam disi sthitah
ekada tatra parjanyo
na vavarsha sama dasa
In the south is a country named Usinara, where for ten years
it did not rain.
Text 3
dhanavantas tatra gopa
anavrishti-bhayaturah
sa-kutumba go-dhanais ca
vraja-mandalam ayayuh
Fearful that it would never rain, the wealthy gopas there
traveled, with their families and cows, to the circle of Vraja.
Text 4
punye vrindavane ramye
kalindi-nikate subhe
nanda-raja-sahayena
vasam te cakrire nripa
O king, with the help of King Nanda, they made their homes
in beautiful and sacred Vrindavana by the shore of the beautiful
Yamuna.
Text 5
tesham griheshu sanjata
yajna-sitas ca gopikah
sri-ramasya vara divya
divya-yauvana-bhushitah
The yajna-sitas, who had recieved a blessing from
Lord Ramacandra, took birth in their homes as beautiful gopis
decorated with splendid youthfulness.
Text 6
sri-krishnam sundaram drishtva
mohitas ta nripesvara
vratam krishna-prasadartham
prashtum radham samayayuh
O king of kings, when they saw handsome Lord Krishna, they
becamne bewildered with love for Him. To ask what vow they might
follow to attain Krishna's mercy, they approached Sri Radha.
Text 7
sri-gopya ucuh
vrishabhanu-sute divye
he radhe kanja-locane
sri-krishnasya prasadartham
vada kincid vratam subham
The gopis said: O Radha, O beautiful, lotus-eyed daughter of
King Vrishabhanu, please tell us what vow we may follow to attain
Lord Krishna's favor.
Text 8
tava vasyo nanda-sunur
devair api su-durgamah
tvam jagan-mohini radhe
sarva-sastrartha-para-ga
O Radha, You have made Lord Krishna, whom even the great
demigods cannot approach, into Your submissive servant. You are
the most beautiful girl in all the worlds. You have crossed to
the farther shore of the deep meaning of all the scriptures.
Text 9
sri-radhovaca
sri-krishnasya prasadartham
kurutaikadasi-vratam
tena vasyo harih sakshad
bhavishyati na samsayah
Sri Radha said: To attain Lord Krishna's mercy you should
follow the vow of fasting on ekadasi. In that way You will make
Lord Krishna into your submissive servant. Of this there is no
doubt.
Text 10
sri-gopya ucuh
samvatsarasyaikadasya
namani vada radhike
mase mase vratam tasyah
kartavyam kena bhavatah
The gopis said: O Radha, please tell us the names of the
different ekadasis throughout the year. Month after month, how
should the different ekadasis be observed?
Text 11
sri-radhovaca
margasirshe krishna-pakshe
utpanna vishnu-dehatah
mura-daitya-vadharthaya
tithir ekadasi vara
Sri Radha said: During the dark fortnight of the month of
Margasirsha (November-December), in order to kill the demon Mura,
the holy day of ekadasi was born from the body of Lord Vishnu.
Text 12
mase mase prithag-bhuta
saiva sarva-vratottama
tasyah shad-vimsatim namnam
vakshyami hita-kamyaya
Desiring your welfare, I will tell you the names of the
twenty-six most sacred ekadasis that appear in the differnet
months.
Text 13
utpattis ca tatha moksha
sa-phala ca tatah param
putrada shat-tila caiva
jaya ca vijaya tatha
Their names are: 1. utpatti, 2. moksha, 3. sa-phala, 4.
putrada, 5. shat-tila, 6. jaya, 7. vijaya, . . .
Text 14
amalaki tatah pascan
namna vai papa-mocani
kamada ca tatah pascat
kathita vai varuthini
. . . 8. amalaki, 9. papa-mocani, 10. kamada, 11. varuthini, . .
Text 15
mohini capara prokta
nirjala kathita tatah
yogini deva-sayani
kamini ca tatah param
. . . 12. mohini, 13. apara, 14. nirjala, 15. yogini, 16. deva-
sayani, 17. kamini, . . .
Text 16
pavitra capy aja padma
indira ca tatah param
pasankusa rama caiva
tatah pascat prabodhini
. . . 18. pavitra, 19. aja, 20. padma, 21. indira, 22.
pasankusa, 23. rama, 24. prabodhini.
Text 17
sarva-sampat-prada caiva
dve prokte malamasa-je
evam sad-vimsatim namnam
ekadasyah pathec ca yah
samvatsara-dvadasinam
phalam apnoti so 'pi hi
There are also two more ekadasis, both named sarva-sampat-
prada, during the extra month of leap-year. In this way there are
twenty-six ekadasis in all. A person who chants the names of
these twenty-six ekadasis attains the result of following ekadasi
for one year.
Text 18
ekadasyas ca niyamam
srinutatha vrajanganah
bhumi-sayi dasamyam tu
caika-bhukto jitendriyah
O girls of Vraja, please hear the rules for observing
ekadasi. On ekadasi one should control the senses and sleep on
the ground. On dvadasi one should eat only once.
Text 19
eka-varam jalam pitva
dhauta-vastro 'ti-nirmalah
brahme muhurta utthaya
caikadasyam harim natah
During ekadasi one should be pure-hearted and very clean,
wear clean garments, drink water only once, rise for brahma-
muhurta, and bow down to Lord Krishna
Text 20
adhamam kupika-snanam
vapyam snanam tu madhyamam
tadage cottamam snanam
nadyah snanam tatah param
Bathing with well-water is an inferior kind of bath. Bathing
in a pond is better, bathing in a lake is better than that, and
bathing in a river is better still.
Text 21
evam snatva nara-varah
krodha-lobha-vivarjitah
nalapet tad-dine nicams
tatha pakhandino naran
In this way one should bathe. On ekadasi day one should be
free of greed and anger, and one should not talk to sinful
people, atheists, and offenders.
Texts 22 and 23
mithya-vada-ratams caiva
tatha brahmana-nindakan
anyams caiva duracaran
agamyagamane ratan
para-dravyapaharams ca
para-darabhigaminah
durvrittan bhinna-maryadan
nalapet sa vrati narah
A person who follows the vow of ekadasi should not talk to
liers, offenders of brahmanas, sinners, debauchees, thieves,
adulterers, and the ill-behaved and immoral.
Text 24
kesavam pujayitva tu
naivedyam tatra karayet
dipam dadyad grihe tatra
bhakti-yuktena cetasa
In the home one should, with devotion in the heart, worship
Lord Krishna, and offer Him food and a lamp.
Text 25
kathah srutva brahmanebhyo
dadyat sad-dakshinam punah
ratrau jagaranam kuryad
gayan krishna-padani ca
From the brahmanas one should hear the stories of Lord
Krishna. One should offer dakshina to them. One should keep a vigil,
singing the glories of Lord Krishna throughout the night.
Texts 26 and 27
kamsyam mamsam masurams ca
kodravam canakam tatha
sakam madhu parannam ca
punar bhojana-maithunam
vishnu-vrate tu kartavye
dasamyam dasa varjayet
dyutam kridam ca nidram ca
tambulam danta-dhavanam
When ekadasi is ended, and the dasami day has come, one
should avoid these ten things: 1. eating from a brass dish, 2.
eating flesh, 3. masura dal, 4. kodrava grains, 5. chick-peas, 6.
spinach, 7. honey, 8. and the food of others, 9. eating twice,
and 10. sex. One should also avoid gambling, playing, sleeping,
chewing betelnuts, and brushing the teeth.
Text 28
parapavadam paisunyam
steyam himsam tatha ratim
krodhadhyam hy anritam vakyam
ekadasyam vivarjayet
On ekadasi one should avoid harsh speech, slander, theft,
violence, sex, anger, and speaking lies.
Text 29
kamsyam mamsam suram kshaudram
tailam vitatha-bhashanam
pushti-shashti-masurams ca
dvadasyam parivarjayet
On the dvadasi one should avoid brass utensils, flesh,
liquor, honey, oil, speaking lies, pushti, shashti, and masura.
Text 30
anena vidhina kuryad
dvadasi-vratam uttamam
By following these rules one should observe the great vow of
ekadasi and dvadasi.
Text 31
sri-gopya ucuh
ekadasi-vratasyasya
kalam vada maha-mate
kim phalam vada tasyas tu
mahatmyam vada tattvatah
The gopis said: O noble-hearted one, please tell us when the
vow of ekadasi should be observed. What is the result of
following ekadasi? Please tell us. Please tell us in truth the
glories of ekadasi.
Text 32
sri-radhovaca
dasami panca-pancasad
ghatika cet pradrisyate
tarhi caikadasi tyajya
dvadasim samuposhayet
If dvadasi starts within the first twenty-two hours of
ekadasi, one should not fast on ekadasi, but on dvadasi instead.
Note: One ghatika equals twenty-four minutes. Fifty-five
ghatikas equal twenty-two hours.
Text 33
dasami phala-matrena
tyajya caikadasi tithih
madira-bindu-patena
tyajyo ganga-ghato yatha
As one avoids drinking a cup of Ganga water into which a
drop of wine has fallen, so one should avoid fasting on such an
ekadasi.
Text 34
ekadasi yada vriddhim
dvadasi ca yada gata
tada para hy uposhya syat
purva vai dvadasi-vrate
When ekadasi goes to its completion, and dvadasi arrives at
the proper time, then one should fast on ekadasi.
Text 35
ekadasi-vratasyasya
phalam vakshye vrajanganah
yasya sravana-matrena
vajapeya-phalam labhet
O girls of Vraja, now I will tell you the result of
following ekadasi. Simply by hearing this description one attains
the reuslt of performing a vajapeya-yajna.
Text 36
ashtasiti-sahasrani
dvijan bhojayate tu yah
tat kritam phalam apnoti
dvadasi-vrata-krin narah
A person who follows the vow of ekadasi and dvadasi attains
the same pious result one attains by feeding eighty-eight
brahmanas.
Text 37
sa-sagara-vanopetam
yo dadati vasundharam
tat-sahasra-gunam punyam
ekadasya maha-vrate
A person who follows ekadasi attains a pious result
thousands of times greater than the pious result attained by
performing the ritual of mixing the earth and the ocean.
Text 38
ye samsararnave magnah
papa-panka-samakule
tesham uddharanarthaya
dvadasi-vratam uttamam
For they who are drowning in the ocean of repeated birth and
death, an ocean muddy with many sins, the vow of fasting on
ekadasi is the best means of deliverance.
Text 39
ratrau jagaranam kritvai-
kadasi-vrata-krin narah
na pasyati yamam raudram
yuktah papa-satair api
Even though contaminated with hundreds of sins, a person who
keeps a nighttime vigil while following the vow of ekadasi never
sees angry Yamaraja.
Text 40
pujayed yo harim bhaktya
dvadasyam tulasi-dalaih
lipyate na sa papena
padma-patram ivambhasa
As a lotus leaf is never touched by water, so a person who
worships Lord Krishna with tulasi leaves on dvadasi is never
touched by sin.
Text 41
asvamedha-sahasrani
rajasuya-satani ca
ekadasy-upavasasya
kalam narhanti shodasim
The results of a thousand asvamedha-yajnas and a
hundred rajasuya-yajnas are not equal to even a sixteenth
part of the result of fasting on ekadasi.
Text 42
dasa vai matrike pakshe
tatha vai dasa paitrike
priyaya dasa pakshe tu
purushan uddharen narah
A person who follows ekadasi delivers ten generations of his
mother's family, ten generations of his father's family, and ten
generations on his wife's family.
Text 43
yatha sukla tatha krishna
dvayos ca sadrisam phalam
dhenuh sveta tatha krishna
ubhayoh sadrisam payah
As a white cow and a black cow both give the same kind of
milk, so the ekadasi of the bright fortnight and the ekadasi of
the dark fortnight both bring the same result.
Text 44
meru-mandara-matrani
papani sata-janmasu
ekam caikadasim gopyo
dahate tula-rasi-vat
O gopis, a fire burns a great pile of cotton, so a single
ekadasi burns the great Mount Meru of sins committed in a hundred
births.
Text 45
vidhivad vidhi-hinam va
dvadasyam danam eva ca
sv-alpam va su-kritam gopyo
meru-tulyam bhavec ca tat
O gopis, when, either following the proper method or not
following it, and whether it is great or small, one gives charity
on dvadasi, that charity becomes as great as a Mount Meru of
charity.
Text 46
ekadasi-dine vishnoh
srinute yo hareh katham
sapta-dvipavati-dane
yat phalam labhate ca sah
A person who on ekadasi hears the stories of Lord Krishna
attains the same pious result he would attain by giving great
charity everywhere on the seven continents.
Text 47
sankhoddhare narah snatva
drishtva devam gadadharam
ekadasy-upavasasya
kalam narhanti shodasim
A person who bathes at Sankhoddhara-tirtha and gazes at the
Deity of Lord Gadadhara there does not attain even one sixteenth
of the piety one attains by fasting on ekadasi.
Texts 48 and 49
prabhase ca kurukshetre
kedare badrikasrame
kasyam ca sukara-kshetre
grahane candra-suryayoh
sankrantinam catur-laksham
danam dattam ca yan naraih
ekadasy-upavasasya
kalam narhanti shodasim
A person who makes four-hundred thousand pilgrimages to
Prabhasa, Kurukshetra, Kedara, Badarikasrama, Varanasi, and
Sukarakshetra during eclipses of the sun or moon and gives great
charity there does not attain even one sixteenth of the piety one
attains by fasting on ekadasi.
Text 50
naganam ca yatha seshah
pakshinam garudo yatha
devanam ca yatha vishnur
varnanam brahmano yatha
vrikshanam ca yathasvatthah
patranam tulasi yatha
vratanam ca tatha gopyo
vara caikadasi tithih
O gopis, as Lord Sesha is the best of serpents, as Garuda is
the best of birds, as Lord Vishnu is the best of Deities, as the
brahmanas are the best of castes, as the banyan is the best of
trees, and as a tulasi leaf is the best of leaves, so fasting on
ekadasi day is the best of sacred vows.
Text 52
dasa-varsha-sahasrani
tapas tapyati yo narah
tat-tulyam phalam apnoti
dvadasi-vrata-krin narah
A person who follows ekadasi attains the result of
performing austerities for ten thousand years.
Text 53
ittham ekadasinam ca
phalam uktam vrajanganah
kurutasu vratam yuyam
kim bhuyah srotum icchatha
O girls of Vraja, now I have described to you the result of
following the vow of ekadasi. Please follow the vow of ekadasi at
once. What more do you wish to hear?
