Srila Vyasadeva, upon hearing this inquiry from Jaimini Rishi, became situated in transcendental bliss. “O brahmana sage Jaimini! The results of following Ekadasi can be perfectly described by the Supreme Lord, Narayana, because Sri Narayana is the only personality capable of describing them in full. But I will give a very brief description in answer to your question.”
“At the beginning of the material creation, the Supreme Lord created the moving and non-moving living entities within this world made of five gross material elements. Simultaneously, for the purpose of punishing the evil human beings, He created a personality whose form was the embodiment of the worst kinds of sin (Papa-purusha). The different limbs of this personality were constructed of various sinful activities. His head was made of the sin of murdering a brahmana, his two eyes were the form of drinking intoxicants, his mouth was made from the sin of stealing gold, his ears were the form of the sin of having illicit connection with the spiritual master’s wife, his nose was of the sin of killing one’s wife, his arms the form of the sin of killing a cow, his neck was made of the sin of stealing accumulated wealth, his chest of the sin of abortion, his lower chest of the sin of having sex with another’s wife, his stomach of the sin of killings one’s relatives, his navel of the sin of killing those who are dependent on him, his waist of the sin of egotistical self-appraisal, his thighs of the sin of offending the guru, his genitals of the sin of selling one’s daughter, his buttocks of the sin of telling confidential matters, his feet of the sin of killing one’s father, and his hair was the form of all sorts of less severe sinful activities. In this way, a horrible personality embodying all sinful activities and vices was created. His bodily color is black, and his eyes are yellow. He inflicts extreme misery upon sinful persons.
“The Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Lord
Vishnu, upon seeing this
personality of sin began to
think to Himself as follows:
‘I am the creator of the
miseries and happiness for
the living entities. I am
their master because I have
created this personality of
sin, who gives distress to
all dishonest, deceitful and
sinful persons. Now I must
create someone who will
control this personality’.
At this time Sri Bhagavan
created the personality of
Yamaraja and the different
hellish planetary systems.
Those living entities who
are very sinful will be sent
after death to Yamaraja, who
will in turn, according to
their sins, send them to an
appropritate hellish region
to suffer.
“After these
adjustments had been made,
the Supreme Lord, who is the
giver of distress and
happiness to the living
entities, went to the house
of Yamaraja, with the help
of Garuda, the king of
birds. When Yamaraja saw
that Lord Vishnu had
arrived, he immediately
washed His feet and made an
offering unto Him. He then
had Him sit upon a golden
throne. The Supreme Lord
Vishnu became seated upon
the throne, whereupon He
heard very loud crying
sounds from the southern
direction. He became
surprised by this and
inquired of Yamaraja, ‘From
where is this loud crying
coming?’
“Yamaraja in
reply said, ‘O Deva! The
different living entities of
the earthly planetary
systems have fallen to the
hellish regions. They are
suffering extremely for
their misdeeds. The horrible
crying is because of
suffering from the
inflictions of their past
bad actions.’
“After hearing
this the Supreme Lord Vishnu
went to the hellish region
to the south. When the
inhabitants saw who had come
they began to cry even
louder. The heart of the
Supreme Lord Vishnu became
filled with compassion. Lord
Vishnu thought to Himself,
‘I have created all this
progeny, and it is because
of Me that they are
suffering.’”
Vyasadeva
continued: “O Jaimini, just
listen to what the Supreme
Lord did next. After the
merciful Supreme Lord
thought over what He had
previously considered, He
suddenly manifested from His
own form the deity of the
lunar day Ekadasi.
Afterward, the different
sinful living entities began
to follow the vow of Ekadasi
and were then elevated
quickly to the abode of
Vaikuntha. O my child
Jaimini, therefore the lunar
day of Ekadasi is the
selfsame form of the Supreme
Lord, Vishnu, and the
Supersoul within the heart
of the living entities. Sri
Ekadasi is the utmost pious
activity and is situated as
the head among all vows.
“Following the
ascension of Sri Ekadasi,
that personality who is the
form of sinful activity
gradually saw the influence
that she, Ekadasi, had.
Thus, he approached Lord
Vishnu with doubts in his
heart and began offering
many prayers, whereupon Lord
Vishnu became very pleased
and said, ‘I have become
very pleased by your nice
offerings. What boon is it
that you want?’
“The Papa-purusha
replied, “I am Your created
progeny, and it is through
me that you wanted distress
given to the living entities
who are very sinful. But
now, by the influence of Sri
Ekadasi, I have become all
but destroyed. O Prabhu!
After I die all of Your
parts and parcels who have
accepted material bodies
will become liberated and
return to the abode of
Vaikuntha (the spiritual
domain). If this liberation
of all living entities takes
place, then who will carry
on Your activities? There
will be no one to enact the
pastimes in the earthly
planetary systems! O Keshava!
If you want these eternal
pastimes to carry on, then
You please save me from the
fear of Ekadasi. No type of
pious activity can bind me.
But Ekadasi only, being Your
own manifested form, can
impede me. Out of fear of
Sri Ekadasi I have fled and
taken shelter of men;
animals; insects; hills;
trees; moving and non-moving
living entities; rivers;
oceans; forests; heavenly,
earthly and hellish
planetary systems; demigods;
and the Gandharvas. I cannot
find a place where I can be
free from the fear of Sri
Ekadasi. O my Master! I am a
product of Your creation, so
therefore very mercifully
direct me to a place where I
can reside fearlessly.’”
Vyasadeva then
said to Jaimini, “After
saying this, the embodiment
of all sinful activities
(Papa-purusha) fell down at
the feet of the Supreme Lord
Vishnu, who is the destroyer
of all miseries and began to
cry.
“After this,
Lord Vishnu, observing the
condition of the Papa-purusha,
with laughter began to speak
thus: ‘O Papa-purusha, rise
up! Don’t lament any longer.
Just listen, and I’ll tell
you where you can stay on
the lunar day of Ekadasi. On
the date of Sri Ekadasi,
which is the benefactor of
the three planetary systems,
you can take shelter of
foodstuffs in the form of
grains. There is no reason
to worry about this any
more, because My form as Sri
Ekadasi will no longer
impede you.’ After giving
direction to the Papa-purusha,
the Supreme Lord Vishnu
disappeared and the Papa-purusha
returned to the performance
of his own activities.
“Therefore,
those persons who are
serious about the ultimate
benefit of the soul will
never eat grains on Ekadasi.
According to the
instructions of Lord Vishnu,
every kind of sinful
activity that can be found
in the material world takes
its residence in this place
of (grains) foodstuff.
Whoever follows Ekadasi is
freed from all sins and
never enters into the
hellish regions. If one
doesn’t follow Ekadasi
because of illusion, he is
still considered the utmost
sinner. For every mouthful
of grain that is eaten by a
resident of the earthly
region (on Ekadasi), one
receives the effect of
killing millions of
brahmanas. It is definitely
necessary that one give up
eating grains on Ekadasi. I
very strongly say again and
again, ‘On Ekadasi, do not
eat grains, do not eat
grains, do not eat grains!’
Whether one be a kshatriya,
vaishya, shudra, or of any
family, he should follow the
lunar day of Ekadasi. From
this the perfection of varna
and ashrama will be
attained. Especially since
if one (even) by trickery
follows Ekadasi, all his
sins become destroyed and he
very easily attains the
supreme goal, the abode of
Vaikuntha.” -http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/ekadasi.htm
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