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Many devotees are very inquisitive about the appearance of Sri Ekadasi and about her special
characteristics. Therefore I am presenting this description from the fourteenth chapter of the
Padma Purana, from the section entitled "Kriya-sagara-sara":

Once the great sage Jaimini Rishi said to his spiritual master SrilaVyasadeva, "Oh Gurudeva!
Previously, by your mercy, you described to me the history of the glories of the Ganga river, the
benefits of worshipping Vishnu, the giving of grains in charity, the giving of water in charity,
and the magnanimity of drinking the water that has washed the feet of the brahmanas. O best of
the sages, Sri Gurudeva, now, with great enthusiasm, I desire to hear the benefits of fasting on
Ekadasi and the appearance of Ekadasi."

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"Oh Gurudeva! When did Ekadasi take birth and from whom did she appear? What are the rules
of fasting on Ekadasi? Please describe the benefits of following this vow and when it should be
followed. Who is the utmost worshipable presiding deity of Sri Ekadasi? What are the faults in
not following Ekadasi properly? Please bestow your mercy upon me and tell about these
subjects, as you are the only personality able to do so."

SrilaVyasadeva, upon hearing this enquiry of JaiminiRsi, became situated in transcendental bliss.
"Oh brahmana sage Jaimini! The results of following Ekadasi can only be perfectly described by
the Supreme Lord, Narayana, because Sri Narayana is the only personality capable of describing
them in full. But I will give a very brief description in answer to your question."

"At the beginning of the material creation, the Supreme Lord created the moving and non-
moving living entities within this world made of five gross material elements. Simultaneously,
for the purpose of punishing the humans beings, He created a personality whose form was the
embodiment of sin (Papa Purusha). The different limbs of this personality were constructed of
the various sinful activities. His head head was made of the sin of murdering a brahmana, his two
eyes were the form of the sin of drinking intoxicants, his mouth was made of the sin of stealing
gold, his ears were the form of the sin of having illicit connection with the spiritual master's wife,
his nose of the sin of killing one's wife, his arms the form of the sin of killing a cow, his neck
made of the sin of stealing accumulated wealth, his chest of the sin of abortion, his lower chest of
the sin of having sex with another's wife, his stomach of the sin of killing one's relatives, his
navel of the sin of killing those who are dependent on him, his waist of the sin of self appraisal,
his thighs of the sin of offending the guru, his genital of the sin of selling one's daughter, his
buttocks of the sin of telling confidential matters, his feet of the sin of killing one's father, and
his hair the form of lesser, less severe sinful activities. In this way, a horrible personality
embodying all the sinful activities and vices was created. His bodily colour is black, and his eyes
are yellow. He inflicts extreme misery upon sinful persons."

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, upon seeing this personality of sin, began
to think to Himself as follows: 'I am the creator of the miseries and happiness for the living
entities. I am their master because I have created this personality of sin, who gives distress to all
dishonest, deceitful, and sinful persons. Now I must create someone who will control this
personality.' At this time Sri Bhagavan created the personality known as Yamaraj and the
different hellish planetary systems. Those living entities who are very sinful will be sent after
death to Yamaraj, who will in turn, according to their sins, send them to a hellish region to
suffer."

"After these adjustments had been made, the Supreme Lord, who is the giver of distress and
happiness to the living entities, went to the house of Yamaraj, with the help of Garuda, the king
of birds. When Yamaraj saw that Lord Vishnu had arrived, he immediately washed His feet and
made an offering unto Him. He then had Him sit upon a golden throne. The Supreme Lord,
Vishnu, became seated on the throne, whereupon He heard very loud crying sounds coming from
the southern direction. He became surprised by this and thus enquired from Yamaraj, 'From
where is this loud crying coming?'"

"Yamaraj in reply said, 'Oh Deva! The different living entities of the earthly planetary systems
have fallen into the hellish regions. They are suffering extremely for their misdeeds. The horrible
crying is because of suffering from the inflictions of their past bad karma (actions).'"

"After hearing this the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, went to the hellish region to the south. When the
inhabitants saw who had come they began to cry even louder. The heart of the Supreme Lord,
Vishnu, became filled with compassion. Lord Vishnu thought to Himself, 'I have created all this
progeny, and it is because of Me that they are suffering.'"
SrilaVyasadeva continued: "Oh Jaimini, just listen to what the Supreme Lord did next.

      

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"After the merciful Supreme Lord thought over what He had previously considered, He suddenly
manifested from His own form the deity of the lunar day Ekadasi. Afterwards the different sinful
living entities began to follow the vow of Ekadasi and were then elevated quickly to the abode of
Vaikuntha. Oh my child Jaimini, therefore the lunar day of Ekadasi is the selfsame form of the
Supreme Lord, Vishnu, and the Supersoul within the heart of the living entities. Sri Ekadasi is
the utmost pious activity and is situated as the head among all vows."

"Following the ascension of Sri Ekadasi, that personality who is the form of the sinful activity
gradually saw the influence she had. He approached Lord Vishnu with doubts in his heart and
began offering many prayers, whereupon Lord Vishnu became very pleased and said, ' I have
become very pleased by your nice offerings. What boon is it that you want?'

"The Papa Purusha replied, 'I am your created progeny, and it is through me that you wanted
distress given to the living entities who are very sinful. But now, by the influence of Sri Ekadasi,
I have become all but destroyed. Oh master! After I die all of Your parts and parcels who have
accepted material bodies will become liberated and therefore return to the abode of Vaikuntha. If
this liberation of all living entities takes place, then who will carry on Your activities? There will
be no one to enact the pastimes in the earthly planetary systems! Oh Keshava! If You want these
eternal pastimes to carry on, then You please save me from the fear of Ekadasi. No type of pious
activity can bind me. But Ekadasi only, being Your own manifested form, can impede me. Out of
fear of Sri Ekadasi I have fled and taken shelter of men; animals; insects; hills; trees; moving and
non-moving living entities; rivers; oceans; forests; heavenly, earthly, and hellish planetary
systems; demigods; and the Gandarvas. I cannot find a place where I can be free from fear of Sri
Ekadasi. Oh my Master! I am a product of Your creation, so therefore very mercifully direct me
to a place where I can reside fearlessly.'"

SrilaVyasadeva then said to Jaimini, "After saying this, the embodiment of all sinful activities
(Papa Purusha) fell down at the feet of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, who is the destroyer of all
miseries and began to cry."

"After this, Lord Vishnu, observing the condition of the Papa Purusha with laughter, began to
speak thus: 'Oh Papa Purusha! Rise up! Don't lament any longer. Just listen, and I'll tell you
where you can stay on the auspicious lunar day of Ekadasi. On the day of Ekadasi, which is the
benefactor of the three worlds, you can take shelter of foodstuff in the form of grains. There is no
reason to worry about this any more, because My form as Sri Ekadasi Devi will no longer
impede you.' After giving direction to the Papa Purusha, the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, disappeared
and the Papa Purusha returned to the performance of his own activities.

"Therefore those persons who are serious about the ultimate benefit for the soul will never eat
grains on the Ekadasitithi. According to the instructions of Lord Vishnu, every kind of sinful
activity that can be found in the material world takes its residence in this place of foodstuff
(grain) on this day. Whoever follows Ekadasi is freed from all sins and never enters into hellish
regions. If one doesn't follow Ekadasi because of illusion, he is still considered the utmost sinner.
For every mouthful of grain that is eaten by a resident of the earthly region, one receives the
effect of killing millions of brahmanas. It is definitely necessary that one give up eating grains on
Ekadasi. I very strongly say again and again, 'On Ekadasi, don't eat grains, don't eat grains, don't
eat grains!' Whether one be a ksatriya, vaisya, shudra, or of any family, he should follow the
lunar day of Ekadasi. From this the perfection of varna and ashram will be attained. Especially
since even if one by trickery follows Ekadasi, all of his sins become destroyed and he very easily
attains the supreme goal, the abode of Vaikuntha."