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Sat-tila Ekadasi

Sri Daalbhya Rishi said to Palastya Muni, "When the spirit soul comes in
contact with the material energy, he immediately begins to perform sinful
activities, such as stealing, killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform
many other terrible deeds, such as killing a brahmin. Oh purest of
personalities, please tell me how these unfortunate souls may escape the
punishment of being sent to hellish regions of creation. Kindly inform me
how, by giving even a little in charity, one may be easily released from the
reactions of his sins."
Pulastya Muni replied, "Oh fortunate one, you have asked me an important and
confidential question, which not even Brahmaa, Vishnu, Shiva or Indra has
ever asked. Please listen very carefully to my answer.
"With the arrival of the month of Magh (January - February), one should
bathe, carefully control his senses by giving up lust, anger, pride,
jealousy, faultfinding, and greed, and meditate on the Supreme Personality
of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. One should then gather up some cow dung before
it touches the ground and, after mixing it with sesame seeds and cotton,
form 108 balls. This should be done on the day when the constellation of
Purva-ashadha nakshatra arrives. then one should follow the rules and
regulations of Sri Ekaadasii, which I shall now explain to you.
"After bathing, the person who intends to observe Ekaadasii should worship
the Supreme Lord. While praying to Lord Sri Krishna by chanting His holy
name, he should promise to observe the Ekaadasii fast. He should remain
awake overnight and perform a homa (fire sacrifice). Then the devotee should
perform an Arati ceremony for the pleasure of the Lord - Who holds a conch,
disk, club, and so on in His hands - offering Him sandalwood paste to his
feet, incense, camphor, a bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations.
Next the devotee should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and
cotton wool into the sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the Lord
as Purusha sukta, and other names. Throughout the whole day and night he
should also observe the standard Ekaadasii vrata (fast, which in this case
is a fast from all kinds of grains and beans). On this occasion one should
offer the Lord pumpkin, coconut, and guava. If these items are unavailable,
betel nut may be substituted.
"The devotee should pray to Lord Sri Janardana, the benefactor of all living
beings, in this way; 'Oh Lord Sri Krishna, You are the most merciful
Personality of Godhead and the giver of liberation to all fallen souls. Oh
Lord, we have fallen into the ocean of material existence. Please be kind to
us. Oh lotus-eyed divinity, please accept our most humble, affectionate and
respectful obeisances. Oh protector of the entire world, we offer You our
humble respects again and again. Oh Supreme Spirit, Oh Supreme One, Oh
source of all our forefathers, may You and Your eternal consort, Srimati
Laxmi-devi, please accept these humble offerings.'
"The devotee should then try to please a qualified brahmin with a warm
welcome, a pot full of water (purna kumbha), an umbrella, a pair of shoes,
and clothes (cloth - dhoti, and anga vaastra), requesting him at the same
time to bestow his blessings, by which one may develop unalloyed love for
Lord Sri Krishna. According to one's ability, one may also donate a black
cow to such a brahmin, particularly to one who is very well versed in all
the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures. One should also offer him a pot
full of sesame seeds.
"Oh exalted Daalbhya Muni, black sesame seeds are especially suitable for
formal worship and fire sacrifices while white or brown ones are meant to be
eaten by a qualified brahmin. One who can arrange to give both kinds of
sesame seeds (black and white or brown) especially on this Sat-tilaa
Ekaadasii day will be promoted to at least the heavenly planets after
leaving this present body, for as many thousands of years as the number of
seeds that would be produced if the seeds he donated were sown in the ground
and grew into mature, seed bearing plants.
"On this Ekaadasii a faithful person should (1) bathe in the water mixed
with sesame seeds, (2) rub sesame seed paste on his body, (3) offer sesame
seeds into the fire in sacrifice, (4) eat sesame seeds, (5) give sesame
seeds away in charity, (6) accept charitable gifts of sesame seeds. These
are the six (sat) ways in which sesame seeds (tilaa) are utilised for
spiritual purification on this Ekaadasii. Therefore it is called Sat-tilaa
Ekaadasii.
"The great Devarishi Naarad Muni once asked the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Sri Krishna, 'Oh mighty armed Lord, Oh You who are so affectionate
to Your loving devotees, please accept my most humble obeisances. Oh
Yaadava, kindly tell me the result one obtains by observing Sat-tilaa
Ekaadasii.'
"Lord Sri Krishna replied, 'Oh best of the twice born brahmins, I shall
narrate to you an account of an incident I personally witnessed. Long ago on
earth there lived an old female brahmini who worshipped Me every day with
controlled senses. She very faithfully observed many a fast, especially on
special days honouring Me (My various appearance days Janmaasthami,
Rama-navami, Vaman Dwadasi, Nrisimha Chaturdasi, Varaha Dwadasi, Gaura
Purnima, etc. - Calendar) and served Me with full devotion, devoid of any
personal motive. Her rigorous fasting made her quite weak and thin. She gave
charity to brahmanas and to young maidens (kanyas), and even planned to give
away her house in charity. Oh best of the brahmanas although this
spiritually minded woman gave charitable donations to worthy people, the odd
feature of her austerity was that she never gave food to brahmanas or the
devas (demigods).
"'I began to reflect on this curious omission: "This fine woman has purified
herself by fasting on all the auspicious occasions and by offering Me strict
devotional worship. Therefore she certainly has become eligible to enter My
personal abode, which is unattainable by ordinary persons." So I came down
to this planet to examine her, disguising Myself as a follower of Lord
Shiva's, complete with a garland of skulls draped around My neck and a
begging pot (kumandalu) in My hand.
"'As I approached her, she said toMe, "Oh respectful one, tell me truthfully
why You have come before me."
"'I replied, "Oh beautiful one, I have come to get some sacred alms from
you" - whereupon she angrily threw a dense lump of mud into My begging pot!
Oh Naarada Muni I simply turned around and went back to My personal abode,
astonished at this fine brahmani's peculiar mixture of great magnanimity and
stinginess.
"'At last this austere lady reached the spiritual world in her self-same
body, so great were her efforts at fasting and charity. And because she had
indeed offered Me a lump of mud, I transformed that mud into a beautiful
home. However, Oh Naradaji, this particular house was just like that mud
completely devoid of any edible grains, as well as any furniture or
ornamentation, and when she entered it she found only an empty structure.
She therefore approached Me and said with great anger, "I have fasted
repeatedly on so many auspicious occasions, making my body weak and thin. I
have worshipped You and prayed to You in so many different ways for You are
truly the master and protector of all the universes. Yet despite all this
there is no food or wealth to be seen in my new home, Oh Janardana, please
tell me. Why is this?"
"'I replied, "Please return to your house. Sometime later the wives of the
devas (demigods) will pay you a visit out of curiosity to see the new
arrival, but do not open your door until they have described to you the
glories and importance of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii."
"'Hearing this, she returned to her house. Eventually the devas' wives
arrived there and in unison said, "Oh beautiful one, we have come to have
your darshan. Oh auspicious one, please open the doorto your house and let
us see you.
"'The lady replied, "Oh most dear ones, if you want me to open this door,
you will have to describe to me the merit one obtains by observing the
sacred fast of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii." But to this request, not even one of
the wives responded.
"'Later, however, they returned to the house, and one of the wives nicely
explained the sublime nature of this sacred Ekaadasii. And when the lady at
last opened her door, they saw that she was neither a demigoddess, a
Gandharvi, a she-demon, nor even a Naga-patni. She was simply an ordinary
human lady.
"'From then on the lady observed Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, which awards ALL
material enjoyment and liberation at the same time, as it has been described
to her. And she finally received the beautiful furnishings and grains she
had expected for her home. Moreover, her once ordinary material body was
transformed into a beautiful spiritual form made of sac-cid-ananda
(eternality, knowledge,and bliss), with a fine complexion. So, by the mercy
and grace of Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, both the lady and her new home in the
spiritual world were at last radiantly splendid and lustrous with gold,
silver, jewels, and diamonds.
"'Oh Naradaji, a person should not ostentatiously observe Ekaadasii out of
greed, with the hope of attaining wealth dishonestly. Selflessly, he should
simply donate sesame seed, clothes, and food according to his capacity, for
by doing so he will achieve good health and exalted spiritual consciousness,
birth after birth. Ultimately, he will begiven release from the bonds of
this world (liberation) and admittance into the Lord's supreme abode will be
his to enjoy. That is my opinion, Oh best of the demigods deva-rishis).'
"Oh Daalbhya Muni," Pulastya Rishi concluded, "one who properly observes
this wonderful Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii with great faith become free from all
kinds of poverty - spiritual, mental, physical, social, and intellectual -
as well as all kinds of ill luck and evil omens (sakuna). Indeed, following
this Ekaadasii fast by donating, sacrificing, or eating sesame seeds frees
one of all past sin, without a doubt. One need not wonder how this happens.
The rare soul who properly performs these acts of charity in the right
devotional mood, following the Vedic injunctions, will become utterly free
of all sinful reactions and go back to Godhead, back home to the spiritual
world."

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Magh-krishna Ekaadasii, or
Sat-tilaa Ekaadasii, from the sacred Bhavishya-uttara Purana of Srila Krishna Dwaipayana Vyaasa.
YHS,

Cintamani Sakhi devi dasi