Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī

Please check the date and time for Ekādaśī in your area using below sites.

https://www.vaisnavacalendar.info/

https://vaishnavacalendar.org/

https://www.drikpanchang.com/iskcon/iskcon-ekadashi-list.html

How to perform Ekādaśī

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 12

Observe fasting on Ekādaśī day (this occurs on the eleventh day after the full moon and the eleventh day after the new moon). On such days no grains, cereals or beans are eaten; simply vegetables and milk are moderately taken, and the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and reading of scriptures are increased.

Srila Prabhupada letter to Jadurani, July 9, 1971

You should chant as many [rounds] as possible. Real Ekādaśī means fasting and chanting and no other business. When one observes fasting, the chanting becomes easier.

Meditations on this auspicious day

Excerpt from a lecture by Guru Maharaj; Bhakti On: Affirmation #6 

I am not my body or mind; I am superior to negative thoughts and low actions. 

28 March 2022

It's a special day today called Ekādaśī. So, there are two days during the month where if you feel like it and have the time, you can spend extra time practicing and chanting and so forth. You get extra credit on Ekādaśī. So, I always take extra time on Ekādaśī to get up earlier, take more time to chant. I mean, who could stop me? So, who can stop you either? We can only stop ourselves. And if you think it up and do it for yourself, you can, as Kṛṣṇa says, it's like a plane taking off. You get, you start, pull out of the gate at least and then you start moving, taxiing down the runway, you may have to wait in line a little bit. But then when you take, get a clearance on the runway, you just go faster and faster. And then it's a miracle, you just lift off the ground. So, in the Bhagavad-gītā, He describes how you can do that, as a jīva. You just get a little momentum and keep it and then you'll take off and you'll go above the modes of nature.

Story of Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī

Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-Khaṇḍa, Chapter 42

Yudhiṣṭhira said, ‘O Kṛṣṇa, O Jagannātha, O lord of the world. Be pleased and tell me. Show favor to me. Which would be the Ekādaśī in the dark half of Māgha? What is the manner in which it is to be observed?’

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, ‘That Ekādaśī which would fall in the dark half of Māgha is known as Ṣaṭtilā and destroys all sins. Listen to the auspicious, sin-removing account of Ṣaṭtilā, which the best sage Pulastya narrated to Dālabhya.’

Dālabhya said, ‘O brāhmaṇa [Pulastya], tell me how those living beings who have come to the mortal world, who commit sins, and are having various sins like the murder of a brāhmaṇa, who take away others’ wealth, who are deluded by great addictions, do not go to hell.’

Pulastya said, ‘when the month of Māgha has arrived, a man being pure after bath, and with his senses curbed, and without lust, anger, pride, jealousy, greed and wickedness, having remembered the gods, having washed his feet with water, he should observe the restraints of Ekādaśī at an auspicious time. Having worshipped the god of gods, having bathed well, being restrained and pure, he should, by fasting on the Ekādaśī day, recite the names of Kṛṣṇa.’

Once sage Narada asked a question similar to Yudhiṣṭhira’s. Narada said ‘O Kṛṣṇa, what kind of fruit is due to the Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī? Tell it to me, O Yādava, along with an episode, if you are pleased with me.

Lord Kṛṣṇa replied, “O Narada, I would tell you a truthful story. Please do listen carefully. In ancient times, there was a brāhmaṇi on the earth planet. She used to observe fast quite consistently. Once, she kept fast for the entire month, due to which her body became frail. Although she was knowledgeable, she never donated foodstuff or money to any brāhmaṇ or demigod. She had purified her existence already by observing rigorous fasting, but as she didn’t contribute any foodstuff ever, she wasn’t qualified for liberation.

Lord Kṛṣṇa said further, “I disguised myself as a brāhmaṇ and went on earth to ask for charity from the brāhmaṇi. Seeing an extraordinary brāhmaṇ, she inquired and asked the Lord, ‘Please tell me truthfully, who you are?’ I didn’t answer and behaved nonchalantly. At which she angrily threw a lump of clay into My begging bowl. After that, I went back to My abode.

Due to her austerity, she also came to My abode after some time. She got a lovely palace to live in, but her castle didn’t have any foodstuff. Hurriedly, she came running to Me and said she had always worshipped me by observing various fasts. She wanted to know why her palace didn’t have any foodstuff. I told her to go back to her castle first. Some demi goddess would come to meet you. She should not open her palace’s gate till they tell her the importance and rituals of Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī. So, she ran back towards her castle. When the demigoddess came to meet her and asked her to open the palace’s gate, she refused and asked the demigoddess to tell her the importance of Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī fast. One of the demi goddesses agreed and told the brāhmaṇi about Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī.

Brāhmaṇi observed fast on Ṣaṭtilā Ekādaśī as per the instruction received by the demigoddess. She became beautiful, and her palace became full of foodstuff.”