I

nter
nati
onalSoci
etyf
orKri
shnaConsciousness
Founder
-AcaryaHisDiv
ineGraceA.
C.Bhakt
ivedant
aSwami Pr
abhupada

OCEANOFNECTAR
(
E-Magazi
nef
orev
eryEkadasi
)ISSUE174,
UtpannaEkadasi30Nov
ember2021

CONTENTS:
1.Howt
oobser
veEkadasi
,Par
t1;
2.Sr
il
aPr
abhupadaappr
eci
ati
on;
3.Gur
uMahar
aja’
sInst
ruct
ions.
 1
OCEANOFNECTAR HOW TOOBSERVE
EKADASI
(
E-MAGAZI
NEFOREVERYEKADASI) PART1
I
SSUE174,
UTPANNAEKADASI30
NOVEMBER2021
1.HOW TOOBSERVEEKADASIPART1
OnedayKr ishnawentt oYamal aya,theabodeofYamar aja.When
Hewentt hereHehear dt hesoundofcr yi
nginpaincomi ngfrom
theSout her nregi onsoKr ishnaaskedYamar ajawhypeopl ewer e
cryingliket hat.Yamar ajasai dt hatthesepeoplearesinnersthat
arebei ngpuni shedandt hat’
swhyoutofpai nt heyarecr yi
ng.
Krishnasai d,“Theyar ebei ngpuni shed?Youar edoingy ourduty
butIam t heirCr eatorsomustdosomet hi
ngf orthem sot hat
theycanbecomef reef rom t heirsuffer
ingconditi
on.”So,right
there,Kr ishnacr eatedEkadasiandt hatwasont heEkadasiday .
Ekadasi meanst heel eventhday .

TheVedi
ccal
culati
onoft
imeisaccor
dingt ot
helunarmov ement
.
Themoonmov esf r
om new moonAmav asy
awhent her
eisno
moontowar
dsfullmoonanditt
akesfi
fteendays.Fi
fteendaysof
 2
sukl
apakshaandfi
ft
eendaysofKr
ishnapakshaandt
het
hir
tyday
smakesamont
h.I
na
montht
herear
etwoEkadasi
day
s.

Ekadasii sthedaythatKr i
shnacr eatedthisper sonali
tyandt hi
spersonalit
yisaf emale.Sheis
verybeaut i
ful
,ki
ndandmer ci
fulandt hatisEkadasidev i.Krishnamadet hearr
angementwhen
oneobser v
eEkadasi,hewi llbecomef r
eef r
om al lsi
nfulreact i
ons.So,nowpeopl ejuststar
ted
toobser veEkadasiandbecamef reef r
om al lsinfulreactions.Thereisaper sonal
it
yofsi n
Papur usaandhi sbodyismadeofdi fferentty pesofsi ns.Ther earev ar
ioustypesofsi nsl
ike
tel
li
ngal i
e,st
eali
ng,il
li
citsex,eati
ngmeat ,drinkingliquor,etcandt hosesinsmaket hebodyof
Papur usa.Whent hereisnosi nwhatwi llhappent oPapur usa?Hewon’ thavehi sbody.Asa
resultofthathebecamev eryemaci ated,thinandweakandhewasdy ing.Hebecamesoweak
thathecoul dnotevenwal k.Wi thalotofdi f
ficul t
y,hewasst aggeri
ngandcamet oKri
shnaand
seeingPapur usainthatcondi t
ion

Kr
ishnaasked,
“Whathappenedt
oyou?Whyar
eyoui
nsuchacondi
ti
on?
”

Papur
usasai
d,“MyLor d,Iam al
soYourcreat
ionbuteversinceYoucr
eatedEkadasi
,ev
ery
one
i
sobserv
ingEkadasiandbecomingfreefr
om sinf
ulreact
ionsandasaresultoft
hist
herei
sno
si
nandIam dyi
ngsopl easesaveme.”

Kr
ishnasaid,“
Ok,f
rom nowonallthesinsfr
om dayonEkadasiwi
l
lent
eri
ntogr
ainsandeven
i
fsomebodydi dnotcr
eatet
hatsinfulact
ivi
ti
esbuti
fheeatsgrai
nshewi
llbel
iabl
etothose
si
nfulact
ions.
”

So,thatiswhyonEkadasiday sweespeciall
ydonoteatgr ains.Butjustnoteati
nggrai
nsis
notobservingEkadasi,obser
vingEkadasimeansf asti
ngandf ast
ingmeansnoteat i
ngatal l
.
Mostof us cannotobser ve Ekadasiproper l
yt her
efor
e Kr i
shna made some speci al
arr
angementandt hisar r
angementHemadef orBhima.Bhi
macoul dnotf ast
,hisnamewas
Vri
kodar,hewasal way shungryli
keawol f
,hisstomachwasl i
kethatofawol fandawolfis
famousf orit
shunger.Thef i
reisal
waysburninginhisstomachandBhi macouldnotfastand
 3
hetoldKri
shna,“Kr
ishna,Ican’
tfast
.Youhav esuggest
edthatweobserveEkadasitobecome
fr
eefrom si
nfulr
eactionsbutIcannotf
ast.
”So,thenKri
shnasaid,
“Ok,y
oucan’tfastforal
lthe
Ekadasi
s,observejustoneEkadasiandt hatwil
lgiveyout hebenef
itofobservingallthe
Ekadasi
s.”SothatiscalledPandavaNirj
alaEkadasiorBhimaEkadasibecausethisEkadasi
wasespecial
lydesi
gnedf orBhi
ma.

2.SRI
LAPRABHUPADAAPPRECI
ATI
ON

Oneaf t
er noonSr i
laPr abhupadacal ledmet ohi sroom,gav emeast ackofBengal iletters
andaskedmet or eplytothem.Ir eadt hem outt ohim, andhet oldmewhatpoi ntstomake
i
nr esponse.Ther ewasnoBengal it ypewr i
teratt hatt i
me,soIhandwr otet hedr af ts,
broughtthem toPr abhupada, andr eadt hem al oudtohi m.Hemadecor r
ections, andt henI
wroteoutt herepliesonhi sletterheadandt ookt hem t ohimt osign.
Whenal ltheBengal il
ett
ershadbeenanswer ed,Prabhupadaaskedmewhet herIknewhow
towr i
teinHi ndi.Isai dthatIcoul dbutmyHi ndihandwr iti
ngwasnotv eryni ce.Hej ust
smiledandsai d,“Act ual
ly,nobody ’sHi ndihandwr iti
ngi snice.”Andthenhet ol
dmeaj oke:
“Once,amanr ecei vedaletterf r
om hi sfri
endi nHi ndiandhewr ot
ebackt ohi m say ingt hat
thenextt imehewr otetohim heshoul dsendhi mt het r
ainfaretogoseehi m.Whenhi s
fri
endaskedwhy ,themanwr ot ebacksay ingt hatinor dert ounderstandwhathi sf ri
end
hadwr i
tten,hewoul dhavet ogoseehi m.Onl yhecoul ddecipherwhathehadwr it
ten.”
Webot hl aughed,andSr i
l
aPr abhupadagav emeast ackofHi ndil
ett
ers.Hi sjokehadgi ven
meal it
tleconfidence, andther eafterIrepli
edt ohi slettersinHindiaswellasBengal i
.

(
Excer
ptf
rom page86and87of“
OceanofMer
cy”
,bookwr
it
tenbyHHBhakt
iChar
uSwami
)
3.GURUMAHARAJA’
SINSTRUCTI
ONS
 4
(Thecont
entoft
hisE-
magazi
newasbasedal
ect
uregi
venbyHi
sHol
i
nessBhakt
iChar
uSwamion9
June2014inNewOrl
eans)

(
Compi
l
ati
on&edi
ti
ngbyHemav
atiRadhi
kadasi
)