Raviverma’s Picture of Sandhyavali agreeing to sacrifice her child; from Wikipedia

WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN

Post No. 12,092

Date uploaded in London – –  6 June , 2023                  

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.

this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

https://www.pustaka.co.in/home/author/london-swaminathan

Xxx

 Part One was posted yesterday.

Part Two

The second story about Ekadasi (pronunciation :EEkaadasi) in the Mahabharata is as follows:

There was brahmin named Devamali in Shantipur. He earned a lot of money through various means but had no issue. When he and his wife were praying for a child, sage Narada appeared before them. He asked them to do a Yajna for a child. When they performed the Yajna two boys emerged from the sacrificial Yajna fire. They were named Yajnamali and Sumali (pronunciation: maali). Yajnamali meant ‘child of sacrifice’; Sumali meant ‘the child of beauty’.

When both of them became youths, both Devamali and his wife settled in an Ashram on the banks of River Narmada. There they met a sage called Jananti. He advised them to repeat the name of Vishnu. They spent their retired life happily and went to Vishnu’s abode after their death.

In the meantime, both Yajna Mali and Sumali got married and had sons. Yajnamali worshipped Vishnu and observed Ekadasi fast, but his brother Sumali squandered all his money upon unworthy objects and ultimately became a scoundrel.  When the village headman punished him severely for his bad deeds, only Yajna Mali saved him. When both died on the same day, Yajna Mali was taken to heaven and Sumali was taken to hell by the attendants of Yama. Pitying his brother, Yajna Mali gave a portion of his merit / punya earned by Ekadasi fast and thus saved Sumali. Both of them went to Vishnu’s abode, Vaikunta.

xxx

Third Story

There is one story in Narada Purana that is popular in South India. The story of King Rukmangada of Vidhisha illustrated the greatness of Ekadasi fast. The king was not only very strict in observing the fast, but also insisted all the citizens in his kingdom must observe Ekadasi fast. Since all the citizens obeyed him, Yama, god of death, lost all his customers in Vidisha. No one came to his abode and all got direct tickets to Vaikunta, abode of Vishnu.

Yama was very much worried and approached Brahma for a solution. Brahma told him that he can’t punish anyone without evidence and so asked Yama to wait for the judgement day. In the meantime, Brahma wanted to test the integrity of King Rukmangada and his wife Sandhyavali. They had a son by name Dharmanagada. All of them were devotees of Vishnu and strict observers of Ekadasi fast.

Brahma sent an apsara named Mohini, woman from Indraloka, to entice Rukmangada (here afterwards abbreviated as Ruk.) and make him skip Ekadasi fast. She came to earth and met Ruk. and he easily fell into her trap. After eight years of this dalliance, she insisted that she would marry him only if he promised to fulfil all her wishes. Ruk. Readily agreed. Just before one Ekadasi fast, she asked him to skip the fast. When the king promised her all the things in the world except his Ekadasi vow, she went to Ruk.’s wife Sandhya and asked to give the head of Dhamangada, so that she would not insist on her demand. Their son Dhamangada was equally interested in the fast and so  agreed to lose his head so that his father Ruk.’s vow was not compromised. When Ruk. raised his sword to cut the head of his son Dharmangada, God Vishnu appeared before them and took them to Vaikunta. That Ekadasi was named Mohini Ekadasi.

 For 24 Ekadasis, there are stories like this or reasons for observing them in a particular way. There is one Nirjala (waterless) Ekadasi, which is observed even without drinking water.

Now I will list the important Ekadasis and why they are called with specific names.

To be continued……………………….

Tags- Ekadasi, Rukmangada, Mohini, Devamali, Yajnamalai, Sumali