Kamika Ekadasi 2177

King Yudhishthira bowed to Sri Krishna and asked the name of the Ekadashi of the dark half of Shravana (Purnimanta; Ashadha in Amanta). Sri Krishna said that He would tell him what Brahma, seated on the lotus, once told the sage Narada when Narada asked the same question. The Padma Purana gives no tale of a person for this day. Brahma answered with praise of the day itself.

Brahma said, "Listen, Narada. For the good of the people I will tell you of the Ekadashi called Kamika. Merely by hearing of it one gains the fruit of the Vajapeya sacrifice. Hear what fruit comes to one who worships the Lord who holds the conch, the discus and the mace, and who meditates on Hari, Madhusudana."

"The fruit of worshipping Krishna on this day is not gained even by bathing in the Ganga, at Kashi, at Naimisha or at Pushkara. One who gives away the whole earth with its oceans and one who keeps Kamika gain the same fruit. It equals the gift of a milk giving cow with all the things of a household. One who worships Vishnu in Shravana has worshipped the gods, the gandharvas and the serpents."

"For those sunk in the ocean of worldly life, full of the mud of sin, the Kamika vow is the best way across. No other vow is so pure or so cleansing. Vishnu Himself has said so. Its fruit is greater even than the fruit of those devoted to the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit. One who keeps it, watching through the night, never sees fearful Yama, never meets disaster and is never born in a low state. Saints who meditate have reached final freedom by keeping it."

Brahma then praised the tulasi. One who worships Vishnu with tulasi leaves is not touched by sin, as a lotus leaf is not wet by water. A single tulasi leaf offered to Vishnu brings the fruit of a great weight of gold, and four times as much silver. Gems, pearls and coral do not please Vishnu as much as tulasi leaves do. "Salutation to tulasi," said Brahma, "which destroys heaps of sin when it is seen, purifies the body when it is touched, removes disease when one bows to it, frightens Yama when it is sprinkled, brings one near to Krishna when it is planted, and gives liberation at once when it is laid at His feet."

He praised the lamp too. Even Chitragupta cannot measure the merit of one who keeps a lamp burning day and night on the day of Vishnu. The ancestors of one whose lamp burns before Vishnu stay in heaven, satisfied with nectar.

"I have told you the greatness of Kamika," Brahma said. "It removes all sins, even the killing of a brahmana and the destroying of an unborn child. It gives the abode of Vishnu. One who hears its glory with faith is freed from all sins and goes to the world of Vishnu."