Parsva Ekadasi and Vamana Dvadasi, Part 1

Hari-katha inspired by the Guru-varga Parsva Ekadasi and Vamana Dvadasi – 16 Sept 2013 published by Bhaktabandhav.com Today is Parsva Ekadasi and Vamana Dvadasi. Both these tithis are together. This is called vishnu-srinkhala-yoga. These tithis have come together to bind Vishnu. In the beginning of the rainy season there is Sayana Ekadasi. On that day, Hari lays down to rest on His left side. Two months later, at the halfway point of caturmasya, Lord Vishnu turns on to His right side. Two of Bhagavan’s saktis are bhu-sakti and lila-sakti. Sometimes bhu-sakti receives prominence in Bhagavan’s service and sometimes lila-sakti has prominence. Sri-sakti and lila-sakti are one and bhu-sakti is separate. If you go to the temples of South India, you will always see Sri-devi and Bhu-devi present in the temple with Vishnu. However, these are extrinsic points on the import of this day. What is the real matter? When a sadhaka properly follows vaidhi-marga in the beginning months of caturmasya, on this juncture, or halfway point of the caturmasya-vrata, one can receive entrance into the raga-marga. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains in his song—

vidhi-marga-rata-jane, swadhinata ratna-dane, raga-marge korana pravesa raga-basavarti ho’ye, parakiya-bhavasroye, labhe jiva krishna-premavesa

[Krishna eventually bestows the jewel of independence unto those persons who are attached to the path of rules and regulations, thereby allowing them entrance into the path of spontaneous loving service. Becoming influenced by such spontaneity, remaining under the shelter of parakiya-bhava, the soul finally attains all the symptoms of ecstatic love for Krishna.] When Bhagavan rests, He gives mercy through Ekadasi-devi. Ekadasi-devi knows all varieties of ways to serve Bhagavan. She also knows how to arrange that the living entities engage in God’s service. Ekadasi-devi gives this qualification and ability to the jivas. When a person has desire for vraja-seva and residence in Vraja, then Bhagavan sends Ekadasi-devi as well as Paurnamasi Yogamaya-devi and Vrinda-devi to help that person. Such a person receives seva-siksha, or instructions on how to serve. The jivas natural inclination then becomes fully absorbed in Bhagavan. By taking shelter of Ekadasi-devi one begins to engage in smarana, remembrance.

seva sadhaka-rupena siddha-rupena catra hi tad-bhava-lipsuna karya vraja-lokanusaratah

[One who has intense longing to attain ragatmika-bhakti follows in the footsteps of the Vrajavasis who are devoted to raga-marga. With his external body (sadhaka-rupa) he should chant and hear according to the practice of raganuga-bhakti, and with his internally contemplated body (siddha-rupa) bestowed upon him by his Guru, he should perform service in Vraja, following in the wake of the Vrajavasis.] Some people do so much service and then become proud. Some people only serve to please materialists. Some people are egotists who only perform service for personal prestige, saying, “Look how great a servant I am.” But what is the real identity and nature of a servant? By performing real service the color of nitya-seva will come in the heart. When one sincerely performs seva in the form of a sadhaka under guidance of a high-class Vaishnava, he will soon realize his eternal spiritual form and service in the spiritual world. This is not possible for all. Ekadasi-devi watches. She looks to see who wants to come nearby Hari, who is on the side of Hari. The true source of the word Sri is sarva-lakshmi-mayi, sarva-kanta-siromani, mahabhava-svarupini Srimati Radha Thakurani. “Who is in Radharani’s paksha? Who wants Her shelter? Who wants to serve Her?” Ekadasi-devi searches for such persons in Radharani’s group and gives Her full help to them. She gives them siddha-rupa-paricaya, understanding of their eternal form. This is no ordinary thing. This is not some two day drama or joke. It is not as cheap as someone coming to the temple, staying there for a while and then announcing his glories on Facebook and decorating his name with titles like maha-mandalesvara and parivrajaka-acarya-varya. Where did all these tufted tails come from? They came from where tails come from. Follow them to their source. Who ever heard of sannyasis or sadhus having tails? The real result of seva is that by serving in the body of a sadhaka, when your mood matures, you will experience your eternal spiritual form and service in Vraja. This is the real fruit of following Ekadasi and caturmasya. In the early spring you plant a seed, and gradually that grows into a sapling, then in the fall that tree will bear fruits. So, now we have observed the Ekadasis in the two months that followed Sayana Ekadasi, and in the eight months prior to that after caturmasya. Now there should be fruits coming on the tree of your sadhana. They will soon be fully ripe, meaning that Prabhu, the Supreme Lord, will awaken knowledge of your spiritual form and service in the land of Vraja. He says, “Now I am showing your svarupa-gata-seva-pravritti (the nature of your eternal form and service). I will make this fructify and it will be so sweet!” Bhagavan has been watching how we have progressed up to now. He checks, “Who renders service?” Our Prabhu is resting now during caturmasya. Who is fanning Him? Who is massaging His feet? Who is waiting at the door? Who is arranging His nitya-bhoga-raga, opulent offerings. In this world, we see that when the farmer retreats from the field to his home, the bulls and oxen lay down and sleep. They do no further work—kisan gelo ghara, langana tuli tara. When Sri Guru is not present before our mortal vision, how do we engage our time? What do we do when we have no master directly instructing us what to do? When the farmer is in the field, the bulls must plow. But when the farmer returns to his house, the bull sleeps and will not get up. This is our unfortunate state. We somehow came near Sri Guru, but as soon as he turns away a little, we jump again into the current of maya. Bhagavan thinks, “I am resting. Who is engaged in My service. Who is arranging bhoga? Who is doing japa, tapa, niyama, puja and patha? Who is following the rules and regulations of spiritual life?” Bhagavan accepts everyone’s service and, today, on Parsva Ekadasi, He rolls onto His other side. By doing this, He is saying to the avid sadhakas, “Come! Now I will take you from your sadhaka-sarira (physical body) to your siddha-sarira (spiritual form), crossing beyond Maya-devi’s boundary. Now Kartika-vrata, Damodara-vrata, Urja-vrata and niyama-seva is coming. The opportunities to serve Srimati Radharani are coming. I will give you entrance into the most intimate service.” Until the jiva has sat-pravritti, spiritual tendency, and sat-seva, spiritual service, he will be filled with asat-pravritti, ill tendencies, and durguna, bad qualities, he will perform kukurma and vikarma, impious and sinful action, and will desire for labha, puja, and pratishtha, gain, adulation and prestige. For one is only inclined to enjoy his senses in the material word, how will tyaga and vairagya ever come? How can we follow niyama and sadhana, rules and spiritual practice, and how can para-sakti, Divine Potency, come to us? It is said—

na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate na tat samas cabhyadhikas ca drisyate parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate svabhaviki jshana-bala-kriya ca Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.8

[The Supreme Lord has nothing to do, and no one is equal to or greater than Him, for everything is done naturally and systematically by His multifarious energies, such as jshana, bala, and kriya.] Jshana, spiritual knowledge, bala, spiritual strength, and kriya, spiritual inclination and service tendency, will all come to one who is taking shelter of para-sakti, the Divine Potency. We should know that we, the spirit souls, are not of this world. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita—

apareyam itas tvanyam priakritim viddhi me param jiva-bhutam mahabaho yayedam dharyate jagat

Bhagavad-gita 7.5

[However, this inanimate material nature which has eight divisions (earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego) is an inferior nature. Know that I have another superior energy in the form of the jivas, who have accepted this material word for enjoyment by means of their fruitive actions.] Knowing that we are innately of a higher nature, we should strive to rise above the material coverings by taking shelter of the Divine Potency. As further said by Krishna—

mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakritim asritah bhajanty ananya-manaso jshatva bhutadim avyayam

Bhagavad-gita 9.13

[O Partha, the mahatmas, however, having taken shelter of My Divine Potency, know Me to be the original and imperishable cause of all beings. They constantly engage in My bhajana with their minds fixed exclusively on Me.] Who is para-sakti, the higher potency? The highest potency, and the original source of all potency, is Srimati Radharani. By taking shelter of Her, we will realize vastava-vastu, the Absolute Truth, Krishna, and receive spiritual strength to serve Him. Kriya, or service tendency, will be eternally present within us. From the sadhaka form, one will then enter the siddha-svarupa, spiritual form. Spiritual strength, experience and knowledge, to be used in service, will come. Then one will not be a disturbance to anyone. He will be untouched by tamasika tendencies. Bhagavan arranges this lila to send us towards the proper acceptance and execution of a vrata on Suddha Ekadasi, and to instruct us to purely and properly follow Suddha Ekadasi. Until worldly people know phala-sruti, the results of following a vrata, then they will not be inclined to practice the vrata, or the limbs of bhakti. People must be given a bribe, or hear about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There must be some way to awaken their greed. Anyhow, we must try to understand Sri Guru’s bhava and vicara, mood and conception. And to do this we must take shelter of Ekadasi-devi. She is Madhava-tithi and Bhakti-janani. To understand the different considerations included in bhakti is very difficult. We do not understand the words of sadhus. There is no place for guru-vani in our mind. We have no sraddha for the imports of sastra. We do not understand the behavior of Vaishnavas. But Ekadasi is matri-svarupini. She is mother. What does She do? She says, “O child, do not do this. This is the truth. Do this. It is good for you.” Srila Gurudeva traveled all over the world to liberate the conditioned souls. Only fools criticized his activities. One time in Hawaii, he went to see the whales in the ocean. Someone said, “He is a maha-bhagavata. Why does he want to see the whales? This is only tourism.” But Srila Gurudeva is not an insect or fish like you and me. All the jivas that are in the air, in the water, on the land or anywhere—Srila Gurudeva thinks for the welfare these materially bound souls. Wherever he goes, he sees the lila of Bhagavan. He does not see the material bodies covering the living entities, he sees their souls, and mercifully considers how to liberate them.

vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva sva-pake ca panditah sama-darsinah

Bhagavad-gita 5.18

[The wise look with equal vision upon a gentle and learned brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a candala.] But what do you see? You simply engage in guru-ninda and thus pave your pathway to hell. What will be the result of your criticism of Sri Guru? Srila Gurudeva did not go to see the whales but to give darsana to them and to liberate them. Whatever and whoever we go to see, we become attracted and ensnared in the grip of illusion. Whatever we see we try to make our own possession, but this is not so in the case of pure devotees. The pure devotees offer whatever they see to Bhagavan’s lotus feet and bestow anuraga to those are fortunate enough to be in their presence. The Vaishnavas are simple-hearted. But to perceive the Vaishnavas as transcendental personalities and not mortal beings, that is difficult for conditioned souls. Conditioned souls always have many conditions. They always look for faults, neglecting a thousand good qualities, to focus on one apparent fault. Hence, Srila Rupa Gosvami states in his Upadesamrita (6)—

drishtaih svabhava-janitair vapushas ca doshair na prakritatvam iha bhakta-janasya pasyet gangambhasam na khalu budbuda-phena-pankair brahma-dravatvam apagacchati nira-dharmaih

[Devotees who are in this material world should not be considered material; that is, one should not consider them ordinary jivas. Imperfections seen in their natures, such as birth in a low caste, harshness or lethargy, and imperfections seen in their bodies, such as ugly features, disease or deformities, are precisely like the appearance of bubbles, foam and mud in the Ganga. Despite such apparent pollution of her water, the Ganga retains her nature as liquefied transcendence. Similarly, one should not attribute material defects to self-realized Vaishnavas.] We think everyone has bad qualities. We think that even the Vaishnavas are contaminated and filled with bad qualities. We see them with martya-buddhi, as ordinary mortals, and consider them just like us. In this way, we make many offenses. The Padma Purana warns—

arcye vishnau sila-dhir gurushu nara-matir vaishnave jati-buddhir vishnor va vaishnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ‘mbu-buddhih sri-vishnor namni mantre sakala-kalusha-he sabda-samanya-buddhir vishnau sarvesvare tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah

[Anyone who considers the worshipable Deity to be stone; who considers the Vaishnava Guru to be a mortal man; who considers a Vaisnava to be limited by the confines of caste, lineage, or creed; who considers the holy foot-wash of Lord Vishnu (Ganga water), or of a Vaishnava (caranamrita), to be ordinary water; who considers the holy name (the Hare Krishna maha-mantra), which vanquishes all sins, to be material sound vibration; and who considers the God of gods, Lord Vishnu, to be merely on the level of demigods, such a person becomes a resident of hell.] That person who sees the Vaishnava to be of mundane designations, Guru as an ordinary man, the Deity to be mere stone, and the holy name as ordinary sound, he is said to be a resident of hell. Who will help us understand the truth of these matters? Again and again we hear that Ekadasi is the mother of bhakti and that if we do not receive Her mercy, then our lives will pass uselessly on to destruction; but still, we feel no inclination to follow. We are satisfied to pass away our lives in flickering sense enjoyment, oblivious to our coming death, like a goat that nibbles on grass as it is lead to the slaughterhouse. The glories of Ekadasi must be understood in sat-sanga! This will give us spiritual benefit. Today, Ekadasi comes to grant the many conditioned souls who have come in their sadhaka-sariras, a chance to realize and enter their siddha-sarira, spiritual form. Today, Ekadasi-devi calls Vamanadeva to help us by stealing away all our sins, material piety, and the speculations of our mind. She invites Him, saying, “Please come. Take away their karma-phala, the reactions of their fruitive activities.” If we are not freed from the fruits of our punya and papa, piety and sin, then we will never be able to do bhajana. By performing punya, pious activity, one becomes proud of health, wealth, and luxury. And by performing papa, sin, one becomes sick, destitute, and miserable. Ekadasi-devi says to Vamanadeva, “Prabhu, please first take away the karma-phala that waits for them. With your first footstep please take this. Then, with Your second step, please curb the wicked nature and speculations of their minds. They accept their wicked minds as guru, not knowing that the mind will lead them to hell.” Prabhupada says—

dushta mana tumi kisera vaishnava? pratishthara tare, nirjanera ghare tava harinama kevala kaitava

[O wicked mind! What kind of Vaishnava are you? Your chanting in a solitary place is simply for pratishtha, name and fame. Such chanting is nothing but hypocrisy.] You hide in a room and sit to chant harinama, but you do not do any service. You will not make the glorious endeavor of grinding your body like sandalwood on a stone for the sake of the Beloved Lord of your heart. Sala! Tomara bhajana kevala kaitava—your bhajana is only hypocrisy. You have no desire to serve. This body has been given to you by Bhagavan but you have accepted your mind as guru. You therefore think in many wicked ways. Alas! We are worse than demons and animals. We are slaves of the dushta-mana, the wicked mind. How can we be saved from this demonic mentality and animal nature?   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.