The Story of Ekadashi

(This article was originally written in 1956 by Sri Navincandra Cakravarti, a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and in 1979 translated into English by Vyenkata das brahmachari.)

Many devotees are very inquisitive about the appearance of Sri Ekadashi and about her special characteristics. Therefore I am presenting this description from the fourteenth chapter of the Padma Purana, from the section entitled "Kriya-sagara-sara."

Once the great sage Jaimini Rsi said to his spiritual master Srila Vyasadeva, "Oh Gurudeva! Previously, by your mercy, you described to me the history of the glories of the Ganga river, the benefits of worshiping Vishnu, the giving of grains in charity, the giving of water in charity, and the magnanimity of drinking the water that has washed the feet of the brahmanas. O best of the sages, Sri Gurudeva, now, with great enthusiasm, I desire to hear the benefits of fasting on Ekadashi and the appearance of Ekadashi.

kasmad ekadashi jata tasyah ko va vidhir dvija

kada va kriyate kim va phalam kim va vadasva me

ka va pujyatama tatra devata sad-gunarnava

akurvatah syat ko dosa etan me vaktum arhasi

"Oh Gurudeva! When did Ekadashi take birth and from whom did she appear? What are the rules of fasting on the Ekadashi? Please describe the benefits of following this vow and when it should be followed. Who is the utmost worshippable presiding deity of Sri Ekadashi? What are the faults in not following Ekadashi properly? Please bestow your mercyupon me and tell about these subjects, as you are the only personality able to do so."

Radhastami

It is the appearance day of Srimati Radharani. Radharani is the pleasure potency of Krishna. Krishna is the Supreme Brahman. Just try to understand. Krishna is the Supreme Brahman. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]. So when param brahma wants to enjoy... That enjoying spirit is there in the param brahma. Otherwise we cannot have this enjoying spirit. Because we are part and parcel, therefore we have got that enjoying spirit; but that is materially contaminated. But the fact is there, because Krishna, He is enjoying, this enjoying spirit we have got also, but I do not know how to enjoy. We are trying to enjoy in the matter, in the dull matter. That is spiritual. So brahman, brahman sukhanubhutya. People are trying to feel what is brahma- sukha, pleasure of brahmanubhava. That is not material pleasure. So many yogis, they have given up their family life, their kingdom, and meditating to achieve that Brahman pleasure. Actually, the idea is Brahman pleasure. So many brahmacaris, so many sannyasis, they are trying to achieve that Brahman pleasure, and in order to achieve that Brahman pleasure they are neglecting, they are kicking off all this material pleasure. Do you think that Brahman pleasure is ordinary, this material pleasure? To achieve a portion of Brahman pleasure, if they are kicking off all this material pleasure... Don't talk of ourselves. We are ordinary men. In the history we have got instances, that of Bharata Maharaja. Bharata Maharaja, under whose name this planet is called Bharatavarsa. That Bharata Maharaja was the emperor of the whole world. And as emperor he had his beautiful wife, young children. But at the age of twenty-four years, just young man, he gave up everything. All right. This is very old story, of course, but you know Lord Buddha. He was also a prince. He was also prince, not ordinary man, and he was ksatriya, and he was always enjoying with beautiful women. That is the palace pleasure accustomed in every, in Oriental countries, that in the palace there are many beautiful girls, they're always dancing and giving pleasure to the kings and the prince. So Lord Buddha was also in such pleasure, but he gave up everything and began to meditate.


There are many hundreds of instances in Indian history that to realize the Brahman pleasure they gave up everything. They gave up everything. That is the way. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting something severe for realizing the supreme pleasure. That is called tapasya. So if, for tasting a little Brahman pleasure, all materialistic pleasures are to be given up, do you think that the Supreme Brahman, Lord Krishna, is enjoying this material pleasure? Is it very reasonable? This Krishna, He's enjoying laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam [Bs. 5.29]. Hundreds and thousands of goddess of fortune are engaged in His service. Do you think these laksmis are material women? How Krishna can take pleasure in the material women? No. This is mistake. Ananda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhavitabhis tabhir ya eva nija-rupataya kalabhih [Bs. 5.37]. In the Brahma-samhita you'll find that He expands His ananda-cinmaya-rasa, the mellow of transcendental pleasure potency. And these gopis are expansion of His pleasure potency. And Radharani is the center. Radharani is the center. So Radharani is not... Don't take that Radharani is an ordinary woman like we have our wife or sister or mother. No. She is the pleasure potency. And the birth of Radharani was not from the womb of any human being. She was found by her father in the field. While father was plowing, he saw one little nice child is lying there, and he had no children, so he caught it and presented to the queen, "Oh, here we have got a very nice child." "How you got?" "Oh, in the field." Just see. Radharani's janma is like that. So this janma is today and Radha, this name is sometimes not found in Bhagavata. So the atheistic class of men protest this Radharani's name is not in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. How this name came, Radharani? But they do not know how to see it. There is anayaradhyate. There are many gopis, but there is mention that by this particular gopi He is served more pleasingly. Krishna accepts this gopi's service more gladly. Anayaradhyate. Aradhyate. This aradhate, this word, aradhyate means worshiping. From this word aradhyate, Radha has come. But Radha's name are there in other Puranas. So this is the origin.

Failures are Stepping Stones to Success

Success and failure go hand in hand. Success gives us a sense of joy and pride and failure discourages and depresses us. But we should not forget that in the battle of life, failures do come. In that case we should not lose heart and give up trying again. Man is imperfect, so he often stumbles in life. Misfortunes try him, as fire tries gold. Failures appear to be unpleasant, but they are helpful in many other ways. They are our best instructors. Each time we fail we learn some lesson. We come to know the reason of our failure. In the next attempt we guard ourselves against committing the same mistake.

The experience we gain each time makes our path of success smooth and easy. If we give up trying as soon as we meet with failure, we remain defeated in life, though we may possess the necessary strength to reach the goal. Experience, they say, is the best teacher. We, at the same time discover our hidden powers. Every failure makes us more experienced than before. They should not be regarded as an inefficiency of the person concerned. If a man, armed with the experiences of failure picks up courage and goes on doing a thing, success will be his. So we need not feel ashamed if we fail in any undertaking.

Every one aspires for success in life. Only a few lucky persons manage to get success. Often it is failure which falls to the lot of most of the human beings. Is the failure something deplorable? Is there anything good in it? Do all successful people feel happy? Such are the questions that arise before all of us. The answer is that failures are not deplorable and every success does not contribute to perfect happiness. In fact, happiness is not the outcome of failure or success in life but it is a mental phenonmena.

In a happy mood a man tolerates a failure but in a sad mood even a success doesn’t give him any joy. Failure and success are the two relative terms. Failures provide experience. After all a man learns by experience. Failures are stepping stones to success. King Bruce of Scotland fought for the freedom of his country. He failed many times but he did not lose heart. Ultimately he was successful in his objective.

We must study the causes of our failures, and realize our defects. It will surely help us in achieving success in our attempts. Failure, therefore is not a hindrance, but a help, not a bane but a boon. Life is a sum total of experiences and failures. It adds to our experiences and opens our eyes.

Failures make a person bold, active and vigilant. Failures and defeats make a cowardly person to lose heart but these inject vigour and enthusiasm in a brave man. Failures provide a chance of self improvement. So in order to make the most of their use one should face them boldly and cheerfully.

Degeneration of Morals and Values in the Indian society

What are morals or values or ethics? These are defined to be the Standards of human behavior; principles of right and wrong. However in the modern times, degeneration of values and ethics has become very rampant. Where have all our Morals gone. Today, 'Moral' is a word which is just limited to the moral books of some primary classes. It is no longer a valid word for an Indian mind too, just as it has lost its meaning in the western world, several years ago. Morals have become a word sleeping in the dictionary; I would rather say it has disappeared from the dictionary as well as people's life. Reverences, obedience, kindness, love, affection, were some of the values but in the present scenario these have been substituted by lust, greed, hypocrisy, hatred.

The younger generation has an attitude of "I don't care". Degraded moral values have become a fashion for them. In schools, students proudly admit that they smoke or have indulged in some sort of bad activity. They forget their ethical values and duties towards society and the nation. Morals and values are just the past. It’s depressing to see the newspaper early in the morning to witness various murder and rape cases. Programs telecasting about various ill-treatments of woman and deaths and accidents score a greater a viewing rate as compared to any discovery channel or something useful (not really these days. The main cause for the rise of such uncivilized grounds of terror and hatred is just the result of inappropriate educational values right from the childhood and nil importance to human values which need to be imbibed to the student at an early level. The increasing practice of doing everything just for the sake of money has killed the minute pieces of kindness making them dormant forever. Practising morals has become so rare that anyone following the basic morals is considered mad, sane and a scapegoat for all. One seeing today's India can never wholeheartedly admit this was birth place of great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and never believe this was where Mother Teresa did miracles in helping the poor and disabled and now can we ever even imagine of such personalities to be born again!

Radhanath Swami's Quotes

Radhanath Swami on Spiritual base : People who can bring about the greatest social changes are those who have a spiritual foundation in their lives. So if you want to make a difference in the world, you have to have a spiritual base.

Radhanath Swami on Death : Death is like a storm which will sink everything in the river of time; the boat is the human body.

Radhanath Swami on The existence of God : Sometimes we try to hide from God, sometimes we try to run from God, but we cannot, because God is situated in and between every atom. Where can we go to escape him? To where there are no atoms?

Radhanath Swami on The eyes of God : We should try to accomplish the best we possibly can. But that shouldn’t be at the cost of our character, or everything becomes empty, spiritually, in the eyes of God.

Radhanath Swami on Faith : When we face difficulties and still remain faithful to God and Guru we access the infinite mercy of their hearts.