Hare krishna!
PAMHO....AGTSP.......
i was wondering if we can do double Ekadashi vrats,,,,,if it is possible......as is today for some sects....as i read in some calender.......but as per ISKCON it is tomorow on 9th july.
I am asking so...becos Ekadashi is a boon ....mahaprasad from Lord....to his devotees.....and vaishnavas really look forward to it.
Senior devotees......kindly counsel in this regard.....what is the right thing to do?
Haribol!
Replies
Hare Krishna Pr,
When to observe Ekadasi Ekadasi,
The eleventh tithi, has special importance. In the scripture Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya-lila, chapter 24), Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructs Sanatana Goswami regarding the Vaisnava regulative principles. In text 342 Lord Caitanya says:
"You should also describe the fault in not observing this. One should be very careful as far as these items are concerned. If one is not careful, one will be negligent in executing devotional service."
As described in Hari Bhakti Vilasa, viddha (mixed) Ekadasi takes place when the eleventh tithi starts before sunrise but the tenth tithi still presides at the beginning of brahma muhurta (the auspicious period that starts an hour and a half before sunrise).
On Ekadasi it is traditional to fast. But under certain conditions, called mahadvadasi, one fasts not on the Ekadasi but on the next day, the dvadasi, even though the Ekadasi is suddha, or pure, and not viddha, or mixed. There are eight mahadvadasis.
Source -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaurabda
Hare KRsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
In ISKCON, we do what is called udiya tithi vrata - which means that the day when ekadasi is there in the morning - brahma muhurta carrying on to sunrise, that day we observe ekadasi. Therefore, a lot of times, we see that we are observing ekadasi the day after everyone else.
I have even done nirjal ekadasi on a day when the udiya tithi was ekadasi, then it became dwadasi and by evening trayodashi had set in, because that was what my shiksha guru made us do. To simplify all this, ISKCON has a committee which sets the calendar each year, specifying when to fast and when to break fast. We simply follow that blindly.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi
Hare Krsna,
PAMHO,
Actually Ekadasi is like a muhurat. Let says one ekadasi starts from 2:00 pm and ends other days. The day in which the time period of ekadasi is more, then we perform ekadasi vrat on that day. Some people thinks ekadasi means 11, but that is not. Therefore in iskcon or in vaishnav calender, sometimes ekadasi vrat is vary by 1 day from other calenders. Sometimes if ekadasi falls more(time period) in dashmi or dvadashi, then we do vrat on dashmi or dwadashi instead of 11th.
Also if we perform ekadasi vrat on a day, then we must have to break the fast on the other day by eating grains. And on ekadasi we don't eat grains. So its impossible to perform two ekadasi vrat in two consecutive days.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
For today's date, in my calendar, it is mentioned that its ekadasi, but not conducive for fasting. Actually tomorrow is dwadasi, but tomorrow is considered conducive for ekadasi fasting. I would not fast both days for this reason.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi
thank you Mataji......for the explanation......so it means.....today vrat shudnt be done....even though Ekadashi tithi has started......becos i also read somewhere...that otherwise ekadashi is not valid.....if not done on the right time.so can we take grains today....if we r not keeping ekasadi fast.......??
yes you can eat grains today.