[Advaita-l] Ekadashi

[Kaushik Chevendra]

Namaste.
On the auspicious day of Ekadashi, a few statements of Shri Abhinava Tirtha
swami on the greatness of Bhagavan.

The Veda teaches, “He that is unborn manifests in many ways.”Thus, it must
be accepted that God incarnates. His incarnations are His captivating
sports. Why does the Lord incarnate? He does so for the sake of benefitting
beings. It is said: “Having compared the weights of helpfulness to others
and abidance in absoluteness and concluded that helping others is the
weightier of the two, the Lord incarnated ten times.
At that time, in Hastināpura, in keeping with Duryodhana’s
instruction, Duśśāsana
dragged Draupadī from her private quarters to the hall and started
disrobing her to shame her. Being greatly devoted to Kṛṣṇa, she cried out
to Him for succour: “Alas! O Kṛṣṇa! O Resident of Dvārakā! O Delighter of
the Yādavas! Where are You? Why are You ignoring me, who have attained this
state, with nobody to protect me?The Lord’s heart melted. He did not give
thought to any possible inconvenience. He did not wait to inform anybody.
He immediately went to Draupadī and saved her honour in an extraordinary
manner. Yet, such was His compassion that He was not satisfied with what He
did for her and later stated, “Sobbing, ‘O Govinda’, Draupadī invoked Me,
who was afar. So My debt to her is great and does not leave My heart".
Referring to the captivating qualities of the Lord, the Bhāgavata-purāṇa points
out, “Even sages who revel only in the Ātman and are free from all bonds
(or, have given up even the study of texts) are devoted to God without any
expectation whatsoever. Such are the excellent qualities of God.

We should dedicate everything to God and be without any worry. If we do so,
the Lord Himself will fully take care of us; He will provide us what we
lack and preserve what we have. He will give the realization of the Supreme
too.

Jai Sriman narayana

namo Narayana