We must follow Ekādaśī

The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in San Jose, Costa Rica, on April 25, 1999 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 40)

Today is Ekādaśī. What is Ekādaśī? What is Ekādaśa? The eleventh number is called Ekādaśa. So Ekādaśī is eleven things. We have eleven senses. What eleven senses? The five working senses (speech, hands, legs, anus, genitals), five knowledge-acquiring senses (eyes, nose, tongue, touch, ears), and the mind are the eleventh sense. Why are they called senses? We take in knowledge through all our senses. Anyone can gain knowledge. The mind determines whether something is hot, cold, painful, not painful, tasty, or anything else. With our eyes we can see, and with our ears we can hear. There are eleven senses through which anyone can do anything. So, in the solar system today is Ekādaśī, the eleventh day. There are sixteen tithis (Pūrṇimā, Pratipat, Dvitīyā, Tritīyā, Caturthī, Pañcamī, Ṣaṣṭhī, Saptamī, Aṣṭamī, Navamī, Daśamī, Ekādaśī, Dvādaśī, Trayodaśī, Caturdaśī, Amāvasyā). Tithi descends from the lunar system, luna.

A tithi will cover a day, and a day may cover a tithi. We observe birthdays, disappearance days, Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī, and all others, according to the tithi, not the day. So today is Ekādaśī tithi. Our śāstra, our epics, prescribe specific rules for us because we are forgetting Kṛṣṇa, and that is why we are unhappy. We should remember Kṛṣṇa. This very day, you should engage all your senses for Kṛṣṇa. You can sleep on other days. You can make merry on other days, no harm. You can do your jobs on any other day, no harm. You can do anything you like on any other day. But this day should be given for Kṛṣṇa.

You will see only Ṭhākurajī, the deities of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and all others with the eyes. With our eyes, we will see devotees. With our minds, we will always remember Kṛṣṇa and the devotees. Through our ears, we will only hear hari-kathā, the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and the glorification of Gurudeva and Vaiṣṇavas, the glorification of Ekādaśī. Through our noses, we will only smell the flowers and all these things that are offered to Kṛṣṇa. We can use our heads today only to do sāṣṭāṅga-praṇāma to Kṛṣṇa, Guru, and Vaiṣṇava. What will our hands do? We should engage them in the service of Kṛṣṇa, Hari, Guru, and Vaiṣṇava. With our mouths, we will chant the holy name and glorify Kṛṣṇa, Guru, Hari, always, like this. On foot, we will circumambulate the places of Kṛṣṇa, Mahāprabhu, and any devotee’s birthplace.

We will visit Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa-dhāma, and Purī-dhāma, and there we will perform parikramā. Today, we have nothing to cook and nothing to do for ourselves. We will not even eat anything because time will be wasted. We will not sleep today, in the morning, evening, or at night. We will always be chanting and remembering, using all our senses throughout the day, twenty-four hours a day, as we serve Kṛṣṇa and devotees. We will not even take water because time will be wasted. This Ekādaśī tithi is the mother of bhakti. If we honour this Ekādaśī tithi like a mother and if we do what the śāstra has prescribed to do on this day, then this Ekādaśī tithi will give us bhakti.

Once, Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in Jagannātha Purī, surrounded by all His associates. The pāṇḍās of Purī never observe Ekādaśī. They also wanted to prevent Caitanya Mahāprabhu from observing Ekādaśī because Caitanya Mahāprabhu would strictly adhere to the observance of Ekādaśī. The brāhmaṇas of Jagannātha Purī would often engage in making merry and would not strictly observe Ekādaśī and all the rules of bhakti. So they thought, “If Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not observe Ekādaśī, then all His potency would disappear. So, we should try to destroy their Ekādaśī.”

On this day of Ekādaśī, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, with all His associates, was doing kīrtana the whole day. In the meantime, the brāhmaṇas brought very delicious preparations there that had been offered to Jagannātha-deva. Very delicious food. They took that to Caitanya Mahāprabhu and gave it to Him, “You should honour mahā-prasādam.”

They brought a wide variety of food, including many sweets, such as rabaḍī, purī, khīr, anna, dāl, and other items. They put it all before Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But He was absorbed in singing kīrtana and glorifying Kṛṣṇa, Jagannātha-deva, and all. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to glorify mahā-prasāda and perform parikramā of that mahā-prasāda with all His associates. Thus, the whole night He was glorifying, performing kīrtana, offering praṇāmas to mahā-prasādam. Like this, the whole night was finished. In the morning, Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the sea, took a bath, and by now the sun had come up. So He offered praṇāma to prasādam and distributed it to all His associates, and He also took something.

There was once a king who had a very beautiful young son. He was following and observing Ekādaśī very strictly, and he had instructed all his subjects, “You must follow Ekādaśī. If anyone is not observing Ekādaśī, I will punish you or banish you from my kingdom.” On the day of Ekādaśī, Mahārāja declared, “All people in my kingdom should strictly observe Ekādaśī. Anyone from the age of eight to eighty is required to do it. Anyone from the age of eight to eighty must observe it, whether they are ladies, girls, boys, old, or anyone. Widowed or not widowed, everyone is required to do it.”

After some time, the king left the kingdom to perform austerities in the forest and engage in bhajana, declaring that his son would succeed him as the next king. When he was practising austerities in the forest, a very beautiful girl appeared. Māyā came there. She was half naked, and she was playing with a ball here and there. The old king saw this and at once became controlled. He said, “Oh, I want to marry you.” She also wanted to marry him, and so they were married. The name of that māyā was Mohinī, and she was very beautiful. She had told him, “You can marry me, but there will be a condition. The condition is that you will always have to obey me. If you will not obey me, then I will quickly give you up and divorce you. If you will not obey me, I will divorce you at once.”

So they went to the kingdom, where they became the king and queen. The old queen and his son served them. Then one day, this very day came again, Ekādaśī. The king declared, “Today is Ekādaśī. Everyone will have to observe Ekādaśī.”

The queen asked the king, “What is this?”

“This is my order. Everyone should observe Ekādaśī.”

“What is Ekādaśī?”

“By observing Ekādaśī, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes merciful to us, and then we will be liberated from this world, and we can be happy in the transcendental world.”

“Are you going to observe Ekādaśī?”

“Oh, surely I will. I will surely observe Ekādaśī.”

“Then I will have to divorce you. You should obey me. Don’t do these nonsensical things. You are the king, and if you are fasting, then you will become so weak that others will conquer you. They will attack you, and you will be defeated.” But he was not ready to give up Ekādaśī.

He at once declared, “I am going to divorce you. I will leave this royal palace today, right now.” There were also some arguments and quarrels. In the meantime, the chaste queen came, the mother of that boy came there, and she wanted to mediate. She told them, “Don’t quarrel.” She told Mohinī, “O my dear sister, younger sister, you should try to obey Mahārāja and what he is doing. He is doing a very good thing, and you should follow him.”

Mohinī became furious and said, “Don’t call me ‘my sister.’ I am not your sister. You are all my enemies. I want to divorce the king very quickly. I want to go from here.”

But the old queen asked her, “What do you want? My dear Mohinī, what do you want?”

Being very angry and furious, she said, “I want the king not to observe Ekādaśī. I am calling all the brāhmaṇas, and they will decide, as they are knowledgeable in all the śāstras. They will decide whether or not a king should observe Ekādaśī. Then she herself went to the homes of the brāhmaṇas and gave them so many gold coins as a bribe and instructed them, “You should come to our council and say to the king, ‘The king can’t observe Ekādaśī.’ ” In Kali-yuga, brāhmaṇas are like demons. Not all, but those who do not engage in bhajana are like demons. They came, and because they were greedy, they took so much money and prescribed, “A king cannot observe Ekādaśī.”

But the king was so strong. He said, “I don’t want to obey all these silly brāhmaṇas.” At that time, Mohinī became ready to divorce the king and leave. But the queen requested, “Is there any condition you can give that will allow the king and me to observe Ekādaśī? Then we can accept that condition.”

She said, “Yes, there is a condition if you will accept it. The king and queen should both have a saw, a kind of saw that is used to cut trees, and you should put your son there and take that saw and cut the head off of your boy. Then, keep that head on a golden plate and give that head to me. Then you can observe Ekādaśī. You should give the head of your son to me on a golden plate.” But the king totally refused this.

He told her, “Go away from my royal palace.” But the queen was so soft and humble.

She said, “No harm. My dear husband, be polite and humble. We will give the head of our son to her, and we will observe Ekādaśī. Ekādaśī is far superior to the head of a mortal person. Our son is transcendental because he has observed many Ekādaśīs and is engaged in bhajana. He cannot die.” Anyhow, the king also accepted that proposal, and then they took the saw and became ready to cut off their son’s head. The boy was standing there, and they were about to cut off their son’s head. In the meantime, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself appeared there.

Mohinī was changed at once, the lady who had been doing all this nonsense. She had come to test them. She was testing them. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared and took the saw from their hands. He protected and saved that boy. Mohinī then wept so bitterly. “Oh, I should be excused. Brahmā instructed me to do so.” Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead gave a boon: “The king and his wife will be liberated at once, and they will go to Vaikuṇṭha. Now his son will be the king here, and he will preach bhakti and Ekādaśī tithi everywhere.”

“Those who will observe Ekādaśī on this day, not taking any grains, not sleeping, engaging all their senses in chanting, remembering, and doing devotional service to Kṛṣṇa in any tīrtha or on the bank of any holy river like the Ganges or Yamunā, near tulasī, anywhere, in a temple, even then they will be liberated from this world. They will have pure bhakti to Kṛṣṇa, and they will go to Goloka Vṛndāvana. On this particular day, all kinds of sins and great sins like the killing of a brāhmaṇa, cow, one’s mother, and father, all these sins will enter grains. They will come in wheat, rice, and various other grains.”

“On this very day, if anyone takes grains, wheat, rice, or anything made from these things, then all kinds of sin will enter that person. All his good works will be destroyed, and he will go to hell forever. And there, if they have done anything good, that good will come to Mohinī because she has preached these things.” So, we must follow Ekādaśī even at the risk of dying. There is no harm in dying, but we must observe Ekādaśī. We will have to extinguish the fire that is burning our house. Our house is on fire. So we should not ask how this fire started. We should immediately get water and attempt to extinguish the fire. We should try to engage all our senses in Kṛṣṇa’s service: śravaṇaṁ, kīrtanaṁ, visnu-smaraṇaṁ, pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ, vandanaṁ, dāsyaṁ, sakhyam, ātma-nivedanam, all these things.

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.23)

[“(Prahlāda Mahārāja said:) ‘Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) — these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service.’ ”]

If you are so weak that you cannot observe a complete fast, then you can take some fruits and some vegetables, but not all kinds of vegetables. You can take the juice of fruit, milk, and all other permitted items. But not eating all day like female goats. If you cannot follow this, if you are so weak, then you can eat twice a day if needed. But for Kṛṣṇa, for the deities, you should prepare so many things, and you should offer them to them. Ekādaśī is not for them. By properly observing this Ekādaśī, reading Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, glorifying, performing kīrtana, performing nagara-saṅkīrtana, all these activities, then very soon you will have pure bhakti.

Smārtas follow Ekādaśī for their own benefit, but we follow it for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. Vaiṣṇava Ekādaśī and smārta Ekādaśī. Additionally, you should know that Yaśodā Māiyā, Nanda Bābā, and all the Vrajavāsīs used to observe Ekādaśī, even though they were associates of Kṛṣṇa. But only in this prakaṭa-līlā, not there in the spiritual world. Our ācāryas have specified that certain things should be taken and others should not be taken. We should not take eggplant or cauliflower. We should not take these things.*

* Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja has often explained that Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja was dealing in specific ways with beginners, knowing that they would come to stricter standards later on.

The following is an excerpt from a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja on June 5, 1998

Śyāmarāṇī dāsī: Gurudeva, we always hear that we should not take grains on Ekādaśī because sins are stored in them on that day, but why can we not take certain vegetables, like tomato and laukī?

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: It is not like with grains. They do not have the qualities of grain, corn, wheat, and dāl [that they don’t act like blotting paper or a ball of cotton]. Especially, it has been told, by a special story, that on the very day of Ekādaśī, all sins, including brahma-hatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa), mātŗ-hatyā (the killing of one’s mother), go-hatyā (the killing of a cow), take shelter in grains and the things prepared by grains. Additionally, śastra prohibits the consumption of certain vegetables and other foodstuffs.**

A concession has been made for the Western devotees and in India for weak persons. If you are not observing the rules and prohibitions, then all kinds of sin will come to you; and if you have some bhakti, it will be destroyed.

Weak persons can take something, as they like, but it must be within the foodstuffs allowed for Ekādaśī. Children can also take, as they like, but their mother and father should ensure that they only take fruits and other foods allotted for Ekādaśī.

** [Scriptures like Hari–bhakti–vilāsa state that such foodstuffs create changes in the body and consciousness that are detrimental to the observance of Ekādaśī. (Śrīpāda Bhaktivedānta Tīrtha Mahārāja)]

** [Sinful reactions don’t take shelter in foodstuffs other than grains and beans. Scriptures like Manu–saṁhitā and Manu–smṛti state that certain foodstuffs are prohibited on Ekādaśī because they change their qualities on that day. Thus, their ingestion creates disturbances in the consciousness. (Śrīpāda Bhaktivedānta Mādhava Mahārāja)]

Ekādaśī

The essence is to eat simply, once or twice, so that one can spend as much time as possible hearing, chanting and remembering Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Never eat meat, fish, eggs, onions, garlic, carrots, red lentils (masūr-dāl), green flat lentils, mushrooms or products thereof.

Restricted foods on Ekādaśī:
Tomatoes, eggplants, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, beets, bitter melon (karela), loki, parmal, toroi, kunli, drumsticks, bindī (ladies’ fingers) and banana flowers
Peas, chickpeas and all types of beans, including products made from beans (e.g., papadams, tofu, tempeh)
All leafy vegetables (e.g., spinach, salads, cabbage) and leafy herbs like parsley, coriander leaves, celery and curry leaves
Grains (e.g., millet, barley, farina, pasta, rice, corn) and all types of flour made from grains and beans (e.g., rice flour, chickpea flour, urad dāl flour)
Starches from corn or grains, and products made from or mixed with these starches, like baking soda, baking powder, certain soft drinks with corn syrup, custard, certain yoghurts and puddings, certain varieties of cream and cottage cheese, certain sweets and candies, and tapioca balls
Oils made from grains (e.g., corn oil, mustard oil, sesame oil) and products fried in these oils (e.g., fried nuts, potato chips and other fried snack foods)
Honey and sweets made with starches
Spices used on Ekādaśī: black pepper, fresh ginger, pure salt and fresh turmeric, all taken from a new and clean package
Spices not used on Ekādaśī: hing (asafetida), sesame seeds, cumin, fenugreek, mustard, tamarind, fennel, cardamom and nutmeg
Foods that can be taken on all days of the year, including Ekādaśī and Cāturmāsya:
All fruits (fresh and dried), all nuts and all oils made from nuts
Potatoes, pumpkin, cucumber, radish, squash, lemon, avocado, olives, coconut, buckwheat, all sugars
All pure milk products (except yoghurt during the 2^nd month of Cāturmāsya and milk during the 3^rd month)
For sannyāsīs, brahmacārīs and vānaprasthas: shaving the head and cutting the nails is to be done on full moon days

Cāturmāsya

Restricted foods during the entire four months of Cāturmāsya:
Eggplants, tomatoes, loki, parmal, urad dāl and honey
Particular foods that are restricted during each of the four months:
First month: No leafy vegetables, such as spinach, salads of all types, cabbages of all types, kale, leafy herbs like coriander, mint, parsley, curry and powdered leafy herbs and teas
Second month: No yoghurt (if one requires it for health, it can be mixed with water)
Third month: No milk (if required, it can be mixed with a drop of lemon juice)
Fourth month: No mustard oil or sesame seeds