[Advaita-l] Ekadashi

[Kaushik Chevendra]

The differences between the school of advaita and dvaita are many. But the
CHATNTING of harinama and sublime devotion to vishnu is the common and most
important aspect in both the school. In the age of kali, it is said that no
penance, austerity, charity etc has the same fruit as the rememberance of
hari nama. The last verse in "bhaja govindam"says "There is no other
measure to escape samsara other than rememberance of hari nama". It's said
that narayana finds some excuse to lift people from samsara. Such is his
daya ,he is the uplifter of sinners,he is "patita pavana". He always
protects his devotees. People who hated hari, such as kamsa, sisupala etc,
too were given mukti because they constantly thought about him. He is an
ocean of daya and forgiveness. Being sarvasaktha isvara he underwent
samsara as rama, to show us how to live a life according to dharma. He gave
the essence of Upanishads in the form of krishna to save the people of
kali.  Today being ekadashi, this day belongs to narayana.
Just a few thoughts I had on this auspicious day.
Om namo narayanaya.