Today is holy Indira Ekadashi Tithi. Ekadashi is very dear to Krishna. Ekadashi is emanated from Krishna. The first Ekadashi is Utpanna Ekadashi which falls in Agrahanya/Margshirsha month of the Hindu calendar. Once the demon Mura defeated the demigods and made them flee from their heavenly abodes. All the demigods then approached the Supreme Lord and requested Him, “Please rescue us; we have been driven out from our places by a demon.” The Supreme Lord replied, “You all be ready to fight. I will come with you and kill that demon.”

The fight began and the demigods couldn’t stand in front of the demon Mura and fled within a moment, only the Supreme Lord stood there. Seeing Him standing alone in the battlefield in front of him, Mura became angry and thought, “I made all demigods run away but who is He, still standing in front of me?” The Supreme Lord defeated all the other demons, and then started fighting with Mura. When all the weapons were exhausted, they started wrestling. The fight continued for ten thousand years. He defeated the demon and then went to Badrinarayana to take rest. Mura got up again and started searching for the Supreme Lord to fight with Him. He ultimately found Him resting in Badrinarayana and wanted to kill Him. At that time one divine female personality appeared from Him and fought with Mura demon and killed him by breaking his head in two pieces. Actually the Supreme Lord killed him by His potency in the form of that divine woman. The Supreme Lord opened His eyes and saw her. He inquired, “Who are you?” She replied, “While You were taking rest, a demon came to fight with You. That time I appeared from You and fought with him and killed him.” The Supreme Lord was pleased with her. He said, “Today is Ekadashi Tithi. So from today onwards your name will be Ekadashi. By performing Ekadashi-vrata, one will be relieved of all kinds of sins and will get the ultimate welfare.”

There are twenty four Ekadashi Tithi’s in a year and in the year having Purushottam month, there will be twenty six Ekadashi Tithi’s. When we observe the Ekadashi-vrata, the Supreme Lord becomes pleased. This auspicious Tithi is very dear to the Supreme Lord. On Ekadashi day, if one performs bhajan, takes darshan of the Deities and worships Them; associates with Vaishnavas and serves them; hear, sing and remember the glories of the name, form, qualities and pastimes of the Supreme Lord, then he gets million times more benefits than any other day. And if one observes Ekadashi in the Dham then the result will be infinite times more. Like Ambarish Maharaja observed Ekadashi in Mathura Dham for one year. The Supreme Lord became so much pleased with him that even the curse of Durvasa Risi could not harm him. Durvasa Risi was a very powerful Risi. He could remain without food for thousands of years and could take the food for one thousand years at a time. He was so powerful that whoever had heard about him, used to be afraid of him. But the curse of such a Risi could not touch Ambarish Maharaj because he observed Ekadashi-vrata.

Yudhisthir Maharaj asked the name and glories of the Ekadashi that occurs during the dark fortnight of the month of Ashwin to Lord Krishna. Then Krishna replied, “The name of the Ekadashi is Indira Ekadashi. By observing this Ekadashi, all kinds of inauspiciousness and sins get eradicated, one will get all auspiciousness and his forefathers who have fallen into hell are liberated.” He then narrated the incident of King Indrasena to give a proof of what He said. In Satya-yuga there lived a king named Indrasena. He was glorious and highly religious and rich in gold, grains, sons, and grandsons. He was so powerful that he destroyed all his enemies. He was very compassionate and took good care of his subjects, everyone was very happy in his kingdom. His kingdom was called Mahishmati-puri. Though the king had so much opulence, he was not attached to it, he was greatly devoted to the Supreme Lord. He especially used to chant the Lord’s name, calling out 'Govinda! Govinda!

One day, while roaming, Narada Muni set his holy foot prints in the royal court (assembly) of King Indrasen. The king offered great respect by standing and greeting him. He paid him obeisances, offered him a comfortable seat and started worshiping him. Narada Muni was pleased with the king’s warm welcome and inquired about his welfare and asked, “Are you performing your duties rightly? Are you properly engaged in the service of Lord Vishnu? Are the residents of your kingdom doing well?”

The king replied, “Your auspicious presence has made everything well. You are a great devotee of the Supreme Lord. Today, just by your presence all the sacrifices in my kingdom are successful. It is my greatest fortune that you have arrived in my kingdom. Mercifully explain the reason for your kind visit.”

Sri Narada Muni, then said, “When I descended from Brahmaloka to Yamaloka, to greet and have darshan of Lord Yamaraja (who is one of the Vaishnava among the twelve topmost Vaishnavas), I was astonished to see your father there in Preta-loka. I inquired to the Lord of death about why he, as he was so religious, had to be in Preta-loka. He replied, “He did many pious acts but once he broke an Ekadashi fast prematurely so he has to be in Preta-loka.” Saying so, he then requested me to inform you about this. He also told that if you perform the proper rites for your father then he will be liberated, so if you observe Indira Ekadashi-vrata for him then he would get liberated from that sufferings.

Therefore I came here to inform you. You are an eligible son of your father. You perform the rights to be done by a son for the welfare of his parents after they leave their body, other rituals and especially Ekadashi-vrata for your father’s welfare.”

The king replied, “Okay, I will do it for my father but I do not know how to observe Ekadashi-vrata. Please guide me mercifully.”

Narada Muni told, “On Dashami Tithi, be sure not to eat more than once, rise early in the morning, take bath, and then do some service for the Supreme Lord with full faith, offer oblations to your forefathers and sleep on the floor at night.”

During Kartik-vrata, Chaturmas a -vrata, one should sleep on the ground. Previously I used to sleep on the floor but it is my misfortune, now I am not able to do so. Dr. Venugopal from AIIMS and other doctors advised me to undergo cardiac surgery. They mentioned that I will not be able to do anything for two and a half months, my activities would be restricted. I asked them that I have to follow certain rules and regulations but they told me at least for fifteen days I have to take special care and not do certain things. So finally a meeting was held and it was decided that I will go for surgery in AIIMS. Meanwhile, when I was attending the annual function of Kolkata Math, many dignitaries who were present in the assembly, when they came to know that I am going to undergo a bypass surgery, advised me to sleep on a bed, sit on a chair while accepting Prasadam and use a stool while taking bath. So because of the heart problem, I am forced to sleep on the bed, honor Prasadam sitting on a chair and use a stool while taking bath.

Now here, Narada Muni further told, “On the day of Ekadashi, you should fast completely and give up all kinds of sense enjoyment.” By being engrossed in sense gratification, you cannot stay near the Supreme Lord. You have to give up all kinds of earthly enjoyments. That time it was Satya-yuga so they used to observe complete fast and abstain from sleeping in the day as well as in the night.

Narada Muni continued, “On the day of Ekadashi, worship Sri Shaligram-shila with full faith and with all the paraphernalia required for the worship. For the full day and night, you should engage yourself in hearing and chanting the name, form, qualities and pastimes of Govinda.”

You would say, “We cannot follow such vows; we would die without food and sleep”. But if a rich person comes here and declares that he would give 10 lakh rupees to a person who can observe complete fast and perform Kirtan for the full day and night without sleeping for a day then everyone of us will get ready for it immediately. Everyone is ready to stay without food and sleep for 10 lakh rupees but not for the Supreme Lord! If we are established in the faith that by the mercy of the Supreme Lord we can get everything then we will be ready to observe the fast for the Supreme Lord also. But we do not have such faith.

Narada Muni also told the king, “Early in the morning next day, on Dwadashi Tithi, worship Sri Hari with great devotion and invite a few Brahmin devotees to a sumptuous feast and finally take your meal with your relatives in silence.”

King Indrasena followed the instructions of Narada Muni perfectly, observed the Ekadashi-vrata and gave the fruits of it to his forefathers. Then his father got elevated to Vaikuntha Dham. King Indrasena was also religious and used to chant Lord Govinda’s name, and in time when he handed over the kingdom to his son, he also went to the spiritual realm.

Ambarish Maharaj was the autocrat of the whole world. He observed a complete fast of Ekadashi-vrata for one year in Madhuvan, Mathura Dham. The place where devotees assemble and sing the glories of the Supreme Lord is also a Dham. Also the place where a pure devotee has manifested his object of worship in a deity form is a Dham too. If someone observes Ekadashi-vrata in such place, he will be many more times benefited than observing at any other place. Srila Gurudev, mercifully, has made a special arrangement, he sent all of you here, so that I can have darshan of devotees, I can serve them and can get auspiciousness. The Supreme Lord has made a special arrangement, he sent all of you here on the day of this Indira Ekadashi. Gurudev is a rescuer of the fallen, he always thinks about the upliftment of the fallen souls. So mercifully he brought all of you here.

Dhruva performed severe penance with a desire of achieving a greater kingdom than that of his father. But he got the mercy of Narada Muni, a great devotee of the Supreme Lord. When someone worships the Supreme Lord for some material benefits then the Supreme Lord fulfils all his desires without revealing the actual benefits of His worship. He does not give Himself or His devotion. In the case of Dhruva, he has got the mercy of Supreme Lord’s devotee, Narada Muni, so He could not keep Dhruva bereft of the real benefits. It is said in Chaitanya Charitamrita, (Madhya 22.38–39)

kṛṣṇa kahe, — ‘āmā bhaje, māge viṣaya-sukha
amṛta chāḍi’ viṣa māge, — ei baḍa mūrkha
āmi — vijṣa, ei mūrkhe ‘viṣaya’ kene diba?
sva-caraṇāmṛta diyā ‘viṣaya’ bhulāiba

Krishna says, “If someone demands the objects of sense enjoyment in return of My worship then such a person is a fool. But I am the All-Knower, why should I award Him the objects of sensuous pleasure? By making him taste the ambrosia of taking shelter of My lotus feet, I make him forget the objects of temporary enjoyment."

Here, Narada Muni showered his mercy on Dhruva so the Supreme Lord could not deceive Dhruva by giving him material benefits only.

Similarly, King Indrasena also got the mercy of Narada Muni, so does anything remain to be obtained when someone gets the mercy of a pure devotee? It is not that by entering in Grihastha-ashram one becomes polluted. A devotee may belong to any Ashram. Many times Grihastha (household) devotees complain, “We have the desire to go to the Math and associate with the devotees but we are entangled in family life, we cannot go, what can be done?” But for renunciate devotees (Math-vasi) there are no such entanglements. So they can perform bhajan comfortably, they can chant Hari, Hari always. But for us it is not so easy to perform bhajan. We have so many things to take care of, even if we have the desire to perform bhajan we cannot do it so easily.”

Necessity is the mother of invention. A person working in the office, even if he has so much work to do, he takes his break from the work to have food. He has understood the necessity of food without which the body will not stay fit. In our daily routine we spend so much time for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper etc because we understand the need of food for the body. But we do not understand the need of devotion to Supreme Lord for the real self, ātmā. If we can understand it then we will give time for it.

Our Guru Maharaj used to give the instance of General Goering, the right-hand man of the German dictator, Hitler. Once, General Goering stated how he recruited candidates for the Nazi forces.

“When candidates come to apply to be admitted into the force,” he said, “I divide them into four categories: clever and industrious, clever and lazy, stupid and industrious and stupid and lazy. Generally, for my force, I choose the clever and industrious, but I make the chief of the department clever and lazy.” Then he was asked, “Why? The commander then has one quality less than the others. Why have you given the highest position of Commander-in-Chief to one who is clever and lazy?”

Goering explained, “It is not in our best interest to be always engaged in war. If we give the position of a commander to those who are both clever and industrious, they are incapable of remaining idle. They will always want to do something and will start fighting. For this reason, the commander must be clever and know the interest of the country, but he will fight only in extreme circumstances, not so easily. Therefore, I choose someone who is clever and lazy for the position of commander.”

He continued, “Those who are stupid and lazy, I accept in small numbers. These types will do little harm. I can manage them. But, the persons who are stupid and industrious, they will do just the opposite of what they should and I always have to make good of it after the fact. Because of this, I have to expend so much energy. So, I am one thousand per cent against stupid and industrious group.”

Which group do we belong? We belong to the stupid and industrious group, “We are very busy, very busy! And for what we are busy? To accumulate money, sensual objects etc. Ultimately where will you go? Ultimate is death. So are we doing all these things to die ultimately? We have got this precious human birth; we should engage it in Haribhajan.

We should remember Ambarish Maharaj today. Ambarish Maharaj observed the complete fast of Ekadashi-vrata. Next day of Ekadashi-vrata, he served all the Brahmins and all the persons who he saw before him. At that time Durvasa Risi set his holy footprints there and Ambarish Maharaj requested him to take Prasad at his place. That was the Dwadashi Tithi, the day next to Ekadashi Tithi. Durvasa Risi agreed to take Prasad. He went to River Yamuna to take bath but he could not return back on time. There is a scriptural injunction for breaking of the fast on the next day in a certain time for the successful complication of any Vrata. So by the advice of the Brahmanas he took a drop of water to break the fast. But Durvasa Risi could understand this and became angry at him. He cursed him. He pulled a hair from his head and threw it on the ground. A goddess appeared with a sword in her hand to kill Ambarish Maharaj. But as soon as she approached Ambarish Maharaj to kill him, the Sudarshan-chakra (Sudarshan-disc) appeared there and destroyed her and went after Durvasa Risi. Durvasa Risi ran from one place to another. He went to Brahma-loka and then to Rudra-loka.

By the order of Rudra, he finally reached Vaikuntha and prayed to Lord Narayan, “You are Achyuta—Infallible. Nobody can be detached from You so I cannot be detached from You. You are Ananta—Infinite. Your everything is Infinite, Your grace is also Infinite. I have committed an offense to Your devotee. But Your grace is Infinite. If Your grace does not come to me then Your qualification, attribute of Infinite will vanish. So You have to grace me. I have committed a great offense, I admit, but if Your grace does not come to me then Your name Infinite will be destroyed. You are the Jagannath (Lord of the Universe). You sustain everything. If You do not sustain me then Your name Jagannath will have no value. Sadhus are compassionate to all the living beings of this world and they have got this compassion by worshipping You. That compassion and mercy are completely in You and by worshipping You sadhus have got compassion to all the living beings of this world. I have come to You but You are not showering Your grace upon me.”

Then, Narayan said, “You went to Brahma and Mahadeva (Rudra) but they didn’t help. They said they are under Me. They cannot go against My order. They are not independent. And similarly, I am also not independent. Although, I am autocrat, Lord of all Lords, yet I have got this sort of promise that if someone serves Me I have to give him something. But a pure devotee, has got nothing except My service. So,

ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno
hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo
bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ
(Srimad Bhagavat 9.4.63)

"I become subjugated by the devotion of My devotee so My heart has been occupied by the devotee. My heart is not here. Compassion comes from the heart but My heart is with My devotee. So, you have to go to Ambarish Maharaj. There You will get My compassion. My heart is occupied by Ambarish Maharaj."

Then Durvasa Risi went to Ambarish Maharaj. Ambarish Maharaj was very repentant, “Oh! Durvasa Risi left without taking any food. I committed a great offense.” He was not at fault but still he took it upon him and felt that it was his fault. If we would have been to his place, we would have thought, “There is no fault from my side”. We would have started blaspheming the Lord, we have such mentality, why would the Supreme Lord come to support us? It is not so easy to worship the Supreme Lord By only narrating these biographies, only words, without following (the teachings), we shall not get the actual result. You should be very careful. We have to carefully understand the teachings from the biographies of Ambarish Maharaj, Prahlad Maharaj, this is a question of life and death for us. Ask yourself a question, any moment I may die, “What will go with us?” We should think about this seriously. We have got no right to deviate from the advice or the teachings of Sri Guru and Vaishnavas. If you debate then it will harm you and others.

See the exemplary character of Ambarish Maharaj,

nāham ātmānam āśāse
mad-bhaktaiḥ sādhubhir vinā
śriyaṁ cātyantikīṁ brahman
yeṣāṁ gatir ahaṁ parā
(Srimad Bhagavat 9.4.64)

The Lord says, “O best of the Brahmanas, without saintly persons for whom I am the only destination, I do not desire to enjoy My transcendental bliss and My supreme opulences”.

The Supreme Lord says that He does not want the transcendental bliss, His supreme opulences even Laxmi Devi, without His devotees or sadhus.

What do you think about Ambarish Maharaj? Is he an ordinary devotee? The Supreme Lord Himself sings his glories in front of Durvasa Muni,

ye dārāgāra-putrāpta-
prāṇān vittam imaṁ param
hitvā māṁ śaraṇaṁ yātāḥ
kathaṁ tāṁs tyaktum utsahe
(Srimad Bhagavat 9.4.65)

The Lord says, “Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such devotees at any time?”

The Supreme Lord says to Durvasa Risi, “Ambarish Maharaj has left not only his huge kingdom having unlimited opulence, but also his wife, children, relatives, friends, society and everything for Me. How can I leave him, you tell Me?” Do you think him as an ordinary Grihastha? Is the Supreme Lord lying? Grihastha and Tyagi (renunciates) live beneath a tree during Vraja-mandal Parikrama but after ten days, they get an attachment for that place and fight with each other to acquire it but here,

śrī-śuka uvāca
ambarīṣo mahā-bhāgaḥ
sapta-dvīpavatīṁ mahīm
avyayāṁ ca śriyaṁ labdhvā
vibhavaṁ cātulaṁ bhuvi

mene ’tidurlabhaṁ puṁsāṁ
sarvaṁ tat svapna-saṁstutam
vidvān vibhava-nirvāṇaṁ
tamo viśati yat pumān
(Srimad Bhagavat 9.4.15-16)

Sukadeva Goswami said, “Maharaja Ambarish, the most fortunate personality, achieved the rule of the entire world, consisting of seven islands, and achieved inexhaustible, unlimited opulence and prosperity on earth. Although such a position is rarely obtained, he did not care for it at all, for he knew very well that all such opulence is material. Like that which is imagined in a dream, such opulence will ultimately be destroyed. The King knew that any non-devotee who attains such opulence merges increasingly into material nature’s mode of darkness."

Ambarish Maharaj was an autocrat of seven continents but he left everything, he considered his all opulence like that which is imagined in a dream. And we run behind those non-eternal sense enjoyments and ultimately suffer in hell. I have collected money begging from others for the construction of the Math and if I consider myself as an owner of it, what is this? Are you not ashamed of it? You have not earned money, you have taken it from others and you are demanding your rights here? What sort of thinking is this? You have to think very carefully.

vâñchâ-kalpatarubhyas' ca kripâ-sindhubhya eva ca