Sri Yudhisthira Maharaj said, "Oh Vasudeva, I offer my
most humble obeisances unto You. Please now describe
to me the EkAdasii of the dark fortnight (krishna paksha) of the month of VaisAkha (April-May), including its specific merits and
influence."
Lord Sri Krishna replied, "Oh King, in this world and
the next, the most auspicious and magnanimous EkAdasii
is VarUthinii EkAdasii,
which occurs during the dark fortnight of the month of VaisAkha.
Whosoever observes a complete fast on this sacred day has
his sins completely removed, obtains continuous happiness, and achieves all
good fortune.
Fasting on VarUthinii EkAdasii makes even an unfortunate woman fortunate. Upon
anyone who observes it, this EkAdasii bestows
material enjoyment in this life and liberation after the death of this present
body. It destroys the sins of all and saves people from the miseries of
repeated rebirth.
"By observing this EkAdasii
properly, King MAndhAtA was liberated. Many other
kings also benefited from observing it – kings such as MahArAja
DhundhumAra, in the IkshvAku
dynasty, who became free from leprosy resulting from the curse that Lord Shiva
had imposed upon him as a punishment.
Whatever merit one obtains by performing austerities and
penances for ten thousand years is achieved by a person who observes VarUthinii EkAdasii.
The merit one achieves by donating a great amount of gold
during a solar eclipse at Kurukshetra is gained by
one who observes this one EkAdasii with love and
devotion, and certainly attains his goals in this life and the next. In short,
this EkAdasii is pure and very enlivening and the
destroyer of all sins.
"Better than giving horses in charity is giving
elephants, and better than giving elephants is giving land. But better still
than giving land is the giving of sesame seeds, and better than that is giving
of gold. Still better than giving gold is giving food grains - for all the
forefathers, demigods (devas), and human beings
become satisfied by eating grains. Thus there is no better gift of charity than
this in the past, present or future."
NOTE: "Yet learned scholars have declared that giving
away a young maiden in marriage to a worthy person is equal to giving away food
grains in charity. Moreover, Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, has said that giving cows in charity is equal to giving food grains.
Still better than all these charities is teaching spiritual knowledge to the
ignorant. Yet all the merits one can attain by performing all these acts of
charity are attained by one who fasts on the VarUthinii
EkAdasii."
"One who lives off the wealth of his daughters suffers
a hellish condition until the inundation of the entire universe, Oh BhArata. Therefore one should be especially careful not to
use the wealth of his daughter. Oh best of kings, any householder who takes his
daughter’s wealth out of greed, who tries to sell his daughter, or who takes
money from the man to whom he has given his daughter in marriage – such a
householder becomes a lowly cat in his next life. Therefore it is said that
whoever, as a sacred act of charity, gives away in marriage a maiden decorated
with various ornaments, and who also gives a dowry with her, obtains merit that
cannot be described even by Chitragupta, the chief
secretary of YamarAja in the heavenly planets. That
very same merit, however, can be easily achieved by one who fasts on the VarUthinii EkAdasii.
"The following things should be given up on the Dashami, (the tenth phase of the Moon), the day before the EkAdasii: eating on bell-metal plates, eating any kind of urad-dahl, eating red-lentils, eating chick-peas, eating kondo (a grain that is primarily eaten by poor people and
that resembles poppy seeds or agarpanthas seeds),
eating spinach, eating honey, eating in another person’s house/home, eating
more than once, and participating in sex of any kind.
"On the EkAdasii itself one
should give up the following: gambling, sports, sleeping during the daytime, betal nuts and its leaf, brushing one’s teeth, spreading rumours, faultfinding, talking to the spiritually fallen,
anger, and lying.
"On the DwAdasii the day
after EkAdasii (the twelfth phase of the Moon), one
should give up the following: eating on bell-metal plates, eating urad-dahl, red-lentils, or honey, lying, strenuous exercise
or labour, eating more than once, any sexual
activity, shaving the body, face or head, smearing oils on one’s body, and
eating in another’s home."
Lord Sri Krishna continued, "Whoever observes the VarUthinii EkAdasii in this way
becomes free from all sinful reactions and returns to the eternal, spiritual
abode. One who worships Lord JanArdana
(
"Finally, Oh noble Yudhisthira,
he who hears or reads this glorification of the sacred VarUthinii
EkAdasii obtains the merit earned by donating one
thousand cows in charity, and at last he returns home,
to the Supreme abode of Lord Vishnu in the Vaikunthas."