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Date: 24 June 2026 Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj Topic: Glories Of Ekadashi HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj: All glories Radha Pandarinath! Srila prabhupada ki jai! Tomorrow is Nirjala Ekadasi. Tomorrow there will be only chanting no japa talk.So we will have the talk today. We just finished Purushottam month and no other great sale, great opportunity has arrived. This panadava Nirjala Ekadasi. That month was known as Mala Maas. Everyone was demeaning him.. He reached the lord and prayed. Lord blessed him so much that he gave his own name Purushottam month. Months are people like Ekadasi, rivers, mountains. All are personalities. So the lord empowered the moth with immense devotion benefits. I hope you took the full opportunity of the purushottam month. Here we see Bhima Sen. He was also sad. Every Ekadasi was very difficult for him to fast and follow Ekadashi. Bhima is referred to as Vrikodara - The voracious eater and Bhima karma. Bg. 1.15: pāñcajanyaṁ hṛṣīkeśo devadattaṁ dhanañ-jayaḥ pauṇḍraṁ dadhmau mahā-śaṅkhaṁ bhīma-karmā vṛkodaraḥ Translation: Lord Kṛṣṇa blew His conchshell, called Pāñcajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhīma, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Pauṇḍra. He doesn't sleep after eating but does herculean tasks. So, he would not be successful in following Ekadasi. So, he was telling this to his brothers. Mother Kunti was also there. He was suggested to go seek the advice of Vyasa ‘The literary incarnation of the lord’. Vyasa had the solution. He said on this particular Ekadasi do complete fast even from water and you will get the benefit of all the other 24 Ekadasi. BG 9.26: patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ Translation: If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it. We don’t take any grain(patram) and no water (toyam). Whatever mistakes or offenses occur on the other 23 Ekadasi you will get benefit by doing 1 Ekadasi fasting without even water. Bhima was happy with this solution. This Nirjala Ekadasi is also empowered by the lord like the purushottam month. Not only Bhima but for anyone who follows this will be benefitted. This Ekadasi starts from sunrise and lasts till the next sunrise. So we can prepare from today. Actually we should prepare for this a year in advance. If you remember I had spoken about this before also. We chant as a duty everyday. We should chant avoiding offenses. When we chant we should always prepare at least a day in advance. Bhaktivinod Thakur: aparadha-sunya hoye loha krishna-nama krishna mata krishna pita krishna dhana prana Translation: Chant Krishna's name without offense. Accept Krishna as your mother. Accept Krishna as your father. Accept Krishna as your wealth and your life. Tapoo divyam Every day in Iskcon temple we read the 10 offenses to the holy name so we can avoid it. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur chanted offenselessly. He is a great example. He compiled a book Harinam Chintamani- Desire full filling stone. You can see the screen presentation. This book is a conversation between Caitanya Maha Prabhu and Haridas Thakur. We all want wealth. We are always striving for it. But we should know what real wealth is. The holy name is real wealth ‘Treasure’. It is the lord himself. Isn't he priceless? Many goddesses of fortune are serving him. Sri Brahma Samhita 5.29: cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs. These offenses are found in Padma puran. The section of the Padma Purana, known as the Brahma Kanda, Chapter 25 Verses 15 to 18 describes ten offenses. These verses are filtered out to specifically show the offenses in these verses. (1) satam ninda namnah paramam aparadham vitanute yatah khyatim yatam katham u sahate tad-vigarham Translation: 1) To blaspheme devotees who have dedicated their lives to chanting the holy name of the Lord. The holy name, who is identical with Krsna, will never tolerate such blasphemous activities. This is the first and foremost offense. We always do. CC Madhya 19.156: yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi’ yāya pātā Translation: If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up. It is like a mad elephant offense. It uproots the garden of spiritual creepers like a mad elephant. Our heart is a garden and this devotion is planted by a Guru in the form of a seed and it grows gradually. We should water with holy name. If we let the mad elephant uproot the creepers then we will not be able to taste its sweetened fruits. So, we have to take care of these Vaishnav offenses. The mad elephant doesn’t uproot it. King Ambarisha was a powerful emperor and a pure devotee of Lord Vishnu. He engaged all his senses in the Lord’s service: His mind in remembering Krishna. His words in glorifying the Lord. His ears in hearing Hari-katha. His hands in cleaning the temple. His eyes in seeing the Deity. His feet in visiting holy places. He was also observing Ekadashi Fast. Once, after observing a year-long vow, King Ambarīṣa was ready to break his fast on Dvadashi at the prescribed auspicious time. At that moment, the great sage Durvasa Muni arrived with many disciples. The king welcomed him respectfully and invited him to honor prasadam. Durvasa Muni agreed but first went to the river to bathe and perform his rituals. The King’s Dilemma as Durvasa remained away, the auspicious time for breaking the fast was about to expire. The king consulted learned brāhmaṇas. They advised that sipping a small amount of water would be considered both breaking and not breaking the fast. To preserve the vow without disrespecting the sage, Ambarīṣa merely sipped water and waited. Drinking water is like breaking fast and not breaking at the same time. Durvasa Muni Becomes Angry. When Durvasa returned, he understood through his mystic power that the king had sipped water before feeding him. Although Ambarīṣa had acted according to religious principles, Durvasa became furious. He considered it an insult and plucked a hair from his head, creating a fiery demon (Kritya) to kill the king. Sudarśana Cakra Protects the Devotee. King Ambarīṣa remained completely peaceful and simply remembered the Lord. Immediately, Lord Vishnu’s divine weapon, the Sudarshana Chakra, appeared and destroyed the demon. Then it turned toward Durvasa Muni himself. Terrified, Durvasa fled. He ran throughout the universe seeking protection: He approached Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu in Vaikuntha. None could save him from the Sudarśana Cakra. Lord Vishnu told Durvasa: ŚB 9.4.63: śrī-bhagavān uvāca ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno hy asvatantra iva dvija sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ Translation: “I am completely under the control of My devotees. My heart is with them, and their heart is with Me.” The Lord explained that He could not withdraw the chakra because Durvasa had offended His devotee. Only Ambarīṣa could forgive him. Ambarish Maharaj was a grihasta and a warrior like Arjuna. BG 4.3: sa evāyaṁ mayā te ’dya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam Translation: That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science. And because you are my devotee and friend so I shall give you most confidentially. So we can see the lords dealing with devotees. The Lord is not envious of anyone. Devotees also don't envy others. Bg. 4.22: yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ samaḥ siddhāv asiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate Translation: He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions. Langhanam param ausadham. Fasting is good for the body also. Bhagavat mahatmya 6.40: Mala mutra jayartham hi laghu aharah sukhavah havisyannena kartavyo hyekavaram katharthina. If we intake less, then small obstacles in our sadhana will decrease. Bg. 6.17: yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā Translation: He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system. Every system contains do’s and don'ts. On ekadashi, there will be fasting and on Dwadashi, there will be feasting. Don’ts is to fasting and do’s is to chant. We should chant as much as we can. I have heard many records of chanting. Some devotees chant 108 rounds. Mother Sabri giving the fruits to Laxman. But he didn’t eat them. He fasted for 14 years. He fasted completely from even water. He can do as he is lord and incarnation of Sankarahan. We should not try to imitate. But we fast one day and follow Haridas Thakur who chanted 3 lakh names everyday. Even though he was born in a Muslim family. So we should take holy name as much as possible. Chand kazi said to make him stop chanting. When he refused to give up his devotion, he was sentenced to be whipped in 22 marketplaces. Despite the severe beating, he continuously chanted the Holy Name and prayed for the welfare of his tormentors. By the Lord’s mercy, he survived unharmed, astonishing everyone. Another famous pastime occurred when a prostitute was sent to tempt him and break his spiritual vows. Haridasa simply continued chanting and speaking about Krishna. Hearing the Holy Name from him, the woman became purified, gave up her sinful life, and became a devoted follower of Krishna. We should chant attentively. Gaura-govindārcana-smaraṇa-paddhatiḥ, 64: mano-madhye sthito mantro mantra-madhye sthitaṁ manaḥ manomantra-samāyuktam etad dhi japa-lakṣaṇam Translation: The mantra firmly situated in the mind; the mind firmly situated in the mantra; such a seamless connection of the mind and mantra is the characteristic of [ideal] japa. We all should attempt to properly understand the message that the verse is trying to convey. The verse says that the mantra should be situated firmly in the mind, not simply in the ears. When a sādhaka chants using the tongue, sound-vibrations travel through the pathways of the sādhaka’s ears. These sound-vibrations are supposed to reach their intended destination i.e. the mind. If the mind is absent, the sound-vibrations will not reach their destination and ideal japa will not occur. This we have to do daily. So be prepared to chant tomorrow till noon tomorrow. Our id's will be open. Make your home a temple. Do nice Sringar of your deities as well showcase your deities during chanting. Sometimes people chant in their mind. We are telling the lord tell me your pastimes. Another prayer is lord show me your pastimes. Tomorrow we will chant, hear and take darshan of the Lord. Make the day that you can't forget. Do you all have the desire to do that? We are wishing you that you have a great experience of tomorrow’s Ekadashi. Hare Krishna!

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