Hindu Feasts, Fasts and Ceremonies/Chapter 10
10. The Mukkoti or Vaikuntha Ekadasi
THE word Ekadasi means the eleventh day of a fortnight, and there are thus two Ekadasis every month. All the twenty-four Ekadasis throughout the year are sacred to a Hindu. Strict fasting and prayer have to be observed throughout the Ekadasi day. The orthodox Hindu bathes early in the morning in a running stream, tank, or well, and goes through a series of prayers. ‘He must not hold any conversation with persons of low caste, with those who have renounced the Hindu religion, with liars, with thieves and others of abandoned character. The company of those who are in the habit of plundering the property of others or temple property must be strictly avoided on the Ekadasi day. The orthodox Hindu observing this fast must raise his eyes towards the sun to expiate the sin of having seen these bad people, if ever he happens to meet them on this day. He should spend his whole time in worshipping Govinda by flowers, fruits, incense and Vedic hymns. He must avoid bad or cruel words in talking to people. He must fast day and night and devote his whole time to pure religious thoughts and prayers—all of which must relate only to the god Krishna. Ekadasi of the dark half of the month is as pure as that of the light half of the month. He who observes the Ekadasi strictly gets all the meritoriousness that is ascribed to the performance of charitable acts during the solar or lunar eclipses or to the performance of the Asvamedha or horse-sacrifice. The meritoriousness which is attained by an anchorite after performing penance for full sixty thousand years is acquired by him who observes but one Ekadasi-fast rigidly. The fame which is attained by a donation of 1,000 cows to Brahmans is acquired by him who observes a single Ekadasi correctly. The keeping of this fast is more meritorious than the giving of acres as gifts to Brahmans, and more holy than imparting the sacred knowledge of the Vedas to students. It is several times superior to feeding starving men, for it is the day most sacred to Vishnu. The observance of this fast on this day gives one eternal felicity in the heavens. The pilgrimage to the holy waters and sacred places is recommended only to those who have not understood the sanctity of the Ekadasi. All the hard penances of a rigid anchorite are prompted by utter stupidity inasmuch as he could easily avoid them if he would observe but one Ekadasi strictly. He who observes the Ekadasi attains all his ends and he who does not observe it is the worst of sinners.’
This is the description given in the Bhavishyottara-purana of the sanctity of the Ekadasi. Every orthodox Hindu, be he Smarta, Vaishnava or Madhva, has to observe this fast rigidly. Some of the Vaishnavas and the Madhvas have such a great regard for the Ekadasi fasting that they give up on this day the performance of the annual ceremonies to satisfy the manes of their departed forefathers if the ceremonies happen to fall on this day. The Smartas and some of the Vaishnavas will consider this as amounting to giving up the ceremonies, inasinuch as they are not performed on the day on which they fall. But those Vaishnavas and the Madhvas who give up the ceremonies have their own arguments for doing so. When they do not themselves eat on the Ekadasi day, the manes of their forefathers have no claim to be fed by ceremonies and so the right to perform these ceremonies rises only on the day succeeding the fasting day. The observance of the Ekadasi day is not solely based upon puranic belief. There are several Upanishads, which are regarded to be equal in sacredness to the Vedas and which also attribute the greatest sanctity to the observance of the Ekadasi fast.
All this is about Ekadasi in general. And it must once for all be said that an orthodox Hindu looks upon all the Ekadasis at all times of the year as the same, as far as their sanctity is concerned. He does not attribute more sacredness to one and less to another. But by the Vaishnavas, the Mukkoti or Vaikuntha Ekadasi is considered the most holy of all the Ekadasis. No direct authority for this belief so far as we know exists anywhere in the sacred writings of the Hindus. The Puranas and the Upanishads speak of the sacredness of Ekadasi in general and on this head all are agreed. But what is the reason for attributing special sanctity to the Mukkoti Ekadasi which occurs in December—January? The following seems to be the explanation:—Krishna in the Bhagavadgita says to Arjuna that if he—the deity—is looked at in the light of months, he is the month of Margasira (12th December—11th January). The idea is that this month is more to the liking of the God. As the Mukkoti Ekadasi falls in the light half of this month it must have been held specially sacred by the Brahmans. This sacred day of the light fortnight of Margasira, this Mukkoti Ekadasi, is represented as a female deity in the Brahmanda-purana (the gender of Ekadasi is feminine) and to have originated from the body of Krishna himself. The statement of Krishna in the Gita that he is the month of Margasira among months and the story in the Brahmandapurana that the goddess presiding over this Ekadasi sprung from the body of Krishna himself must be the main reasons for the Mukkoti Ekadasi being held highly sacred by the Hindus. Apart from both these, there is another cause why the Vaishnavas deem this day most sacred. One of their great sages, Nammalwar attained his felicity—Vatkuntha—on this day, according to Vaishnava legends. The thirty-three crores of gods are said to have come down to witness it. Hence this Ekadasi is called Vaikuntha Ekadasi or Mukkoti Ekadasi, which latter is a shortened form of Muppattu Mukkoti Ekadasi.
In Vishnu temples a special gateway leading to the shrine is opened on this day and he who passes through this doorway is considered to have passed through the gates of Vaikuntha or the abode of felicity in the heavens, like Nammalwar, a famous Vaishnava saint. The Madhvas and the Smartas who observe the Ekadasi equally well with the Vaishnavas do not appear to attach any special merit for the passage through this special gateway, which is called the Vaikuntha gateway.
The Mukkoti Ekadasi is observed in all Vaishnava temples. Ten days before and ten days after it are also held sacred by the Vaishnava sect of the Tenkalai class; as the recitation of Tiruvaymoli—the Tamil Vaishnava Veda—is supposed to have taken place before the god Ranganatha in Srirangam on these days. In this sacred island-shrine of the Vaishnavas this feast is celebrated in grand style and pilgrims flock to it from all parts of India.