Today is Annada Ekadashi. Devotees come here on Ekadashi. When one performs bhajan on Ekadashi, the result is amplified. Yudhisthira Maharaj asked about the name of the Ekadashi which falls on the Krishna pakṣa (dark fortnight) of the month of Bhadra. The Lord explained that this is Annada Ekadashi and it destroys all sorts of sinful activities. The word ‘anna’ means grains, and mainly refers to wheat or rice. Who is the giver of ‘anna’? Annapurna (Bhagavati, Goddess of grains). We ask her for material benefits like “Dhanam dehi, yasham dehi, manorama bharyam dehi…”; (give me wealth, give me fame, give me a beautiful wife, etc.).

There was a king named Harishchandra who appeared in the Solar dynasty (Sūrya-vaṁśa), though the most notable king of this Sūrya-vaṁśa was King Ikshvaku. The famous King Mandhata also belonged to this dynasty. King Harishchandra, son of King Trishanku, was a very religious and an influential king. It is a very long history. I am going to narrate it in brief, while describing the glories of Annada Ekadashi, revealing how it eradicates sinful activities and bestows worldly happiness. Maharaj Harishchandra was the emperor of the world, but circumstances led him to abandon all his wealth and kingdom and sell himself, wife, and son, Rohit.

Desiring to enjoy all the pleasures of heaven in his mortal human body, King Trishanku stepped down from his position, passing the crown to his son Harishchandra. He had initially requested the sage Vasistha to assist with the commemorative event, though he declined. Later, he requested one hundred sons of Vasistha to perform the required yajña, but they also rejected the proposal. Additionally, due to the curse of Vasistha’s son, Trishanku became a caṇḍāla (a low-class person who cremates dead bodies).

To become liberated from this curse and ascend to heaven, Trishanku took shelter of the very powerful and influential sage, Vishwamitra, the son of Gadhi. Vishwamitra became compassionate and asked the esteemed sages to perform a yajña to send Trishanku to heaven in his human body. Out of fear of Vishwamitra, the sages performed the yajña. However, the demigods did not accept the offerings, so Vishwamitra angrily sent Trishanku to heaven by the power of severe penance. When Indra saw Trishanku coming toward heaven, he offered this criticism: “You are a caṇḍāla, low-caste, and you are not qualified to receive the same respect as the inhabitants of heaven, therefore you must fall back down to Earth.”

Disappointed, Trishanku started his descent back to Earth, meanwhile praying to Vishwamitra, who then suspended him in mid-air by uttering the word, ’tiṣṭha.’ He reassured Trishanku, “Please do not worry if Indra won’t allow you to stay in heaven, I shall create a new universe with a heaven.” Vishwamitra began preparations for the yajña to create a new universe, but at the same time, Indra (husband of Sachi and king of the demigods) rushed to intervene and pleaded against creating another world. Thus, to please the sage, Indra transformed Trishanku’s human body to a heavenly body and took him to heaven aboard his celestial plane.

King Harishchandra was the son of King Trishanku. Vishwamitra wanted to spread his glories and therefore engaged in the following pastimes. Vishwamitra approached Harishchandra in the guise of a brāhmaṇa to test him. It is the rule that one should give charity to a brāhmaṇa, along with dakṣiṇa. When the king asked the sage what he wanted to accept, he asked for the king’s wife. Being bound by words, the king was forced to give both his wife and son to the sage. He also gave away his kingdom, and thus felt that he no longer had any right to stay in that land. The king then went to Kashi-dhama, where he was mesmerised by the beauty of the city and pondered: “Since Kashi is under the jurisdiction of Lord Mahadeva (the holder of the trident), this area can’t be under the rule of any human, and is therefore beyond the limits of my kingdom; staying there won’t create any problems for me.”

To clear his debts to the sage Vishwamitra, he started calling out in public, “Who wants to buy me? Who wants to buy me?” Nobody came forward. Then, Dharma-deva (the demigod of righteousness) appeared in the guise of a caṇḍāla, appearing frightful and emitting a foul odor. His chest was oddly deformed and he was of black colour. His face was covered with the hairs of his moustache and beard, he had a lengthened belly, and was wearing a garland of skulls. Just by seeing him, one could not help but detest him. He was carrying a stick in his hand and said to King Harishchandra, “I need a servant and can accept you as my slave. Please tell me how much money I should pay for you?” The king asked, “Who are you?” and he replied, “I am the chief caṇḍāla of the cremation grounds, and I require somebody to collect the clothes of the dead.” Thus, Harishchandra sold himself to the caṇḍāla, and with the wealth received in return, he cleared the debts owed to Vishwamitra Muni. King Harishchandra faced so many challenges. He lost his opulent kingdom, a qualified wife, and his son. In spite of this, he didn’t leave his dharma (righteousness).

His wife and son were living as slaves in the house of a brāhmaṇa who was Vishwamitra Muni in disguise. She performed the duties of a maidservant. One day, Rohit went out to play with friends. They went into the forest to collect some ingredients for a sacrificial fire: dry wood, kuśa (green grass), twigs to ignite the fire, and also some wood of a tree for his master. Due to carrying such a heavy load on his head, he became tired and sat down. Being thirsty, he went to a nearby pond, lowered his load on the ground, and drank some water. After taking some rest, he was about to pick up his load (which was resting over a hole) from the ground, when a poisonous black cobra snake (as per instructions of Vishwamitra) came out of the hole and bit him. Rohit died instantaneously, and his friends were terrified when they realized he was dead.

They ran to the brāhmaṇa’s house and informed his mother about the unfortunate incident. She nearly became mad out of grief for her dead son and informed the brāhmaṇa about the tragedy, who insisted that she first finish her official duties before taking Rohit for cremation. Forced to finish her services, it was then midnight outside of Varanasi when the lonely queen finally saw her son lying lifeless on a pile of wood. Seeing her son, she was overcome with emotion and began crying in desperation. Her painful cries could have melted even a stone-hearted person. Finally, she fell unconscious on the dead body of her son. When she regained her senses, she kissed his face and cried out, “O King! Where are you? Please come at once and see your beloved son, Rohit. Why won’t you come?” The continuous weeping of the queen woke the watchmen from their sleep. At first, they were amazed to see a lonesome woman at midnight, crying with a dead boy in her lap, and asked her to identify herself. Being absorbed in grief, the queen could not reply.

Then the watchmen pondered the possibility of her being a child-killer witch, as that would explain why she was outside of the city at that hour. They considered, “It is quite likely that she kills children and devours them.” Entranced by this theory, the gatekeepers surrounded her; one of them caught her hands, another held her hair, and one caught her by the neck. In this way, they took her to Veerbahu, the caṇḍāla. They told that caṇḍāla, “This woman is a child-killing witch; she should be killed and thrown out of the city.” Veerbahu praised them and said, “You have done a very good job. I have only ever heard about such a witch, but never actually seen one. Perhaps she has killed and eaten many children. You will be praised for catching this demon. Indeed, it is considered a pious deed, not a sin, if one kills someone who is the killer of a brāhmaṇa, cow, woman, or child; or anyone who steals gold, sets a house on fire, drinks alcohol, copulates with his spiritual master’s wife, or blasphemes pure devotees.”

After tying the queen with a piece of rope pulled from her hair, the caṇḍāla beat her, then dragged her to Harishchandra, and sternly ordered him to kill her. King Harishchandra replied, “To kill a woman is a great sin, as a woman is to be protected at all times. The sages have implored us not to kill women. They also told us that if a man kills a woman, he has to suffer the agony of passing through the Raurava hell (a type of hell) for an infinitely long period. I am under oath that I shall never kill any woman in my lifetime. Therefore, I won’t kill her, so you should get her killed by someone else.”

The caṇḍāla again ordered Harishchandra by saying that there is no other duty for a slave other than obeying his master. The king said, “O Master! Please ask me for any other gruesome work and I shall do it. If you have an enemy I shall gladly kill him and hand over his kingdom to you. If Indra and other demigods, demons, mystics, Gandharvas, snakes, or any great heavenly person is your enemy I shall kill them all, and thus fulfill your wish.”

The caṇḍāla replied, “When a slave brings loss to his master, he cannot escape hell, even after ten thousand Kalpas. Therefore, do not give me such lame excuses; take this sword and behead this witch!” The appearance of both the king and queen had transformed so drastically over time that they were unable to recognize each other. The king moved forward to kill her, and now the queen, suffering in sorrow for the death of her son, actually wished to die. But in a state of profuse grief, she began to pray, “O caṇḍāla! I want to make one final request. The dead body of my son is lying outside the city of Varanasi—I ask you to spare me some time until he is cremated,” to which the king agreed. Then the queen, with dirty attire and dust-laden hair, carried the dead body of her son to the cremation ground while crying loudly. She then placed the body on the ground, but upon seeing him like that, she lost her patience and lamented, “O King! Please come and have a glimpse of your child. He is lying here on the ground. He died from a snake bite while playing with children.”

Observing her anguish, Harishchandra removed the cloth from the head of the dead boy. Meanwhile, although they were in close proximity, neither the king nor queen could recognize each other—their appearances were significantly transformed after many years of separation, which was amplified by the effects of their respective material crises and miseries. Gazing at the dead body, King Harishchandra was astonished to see the charming face and princely virtues of the dead child. He had large lotus-eyes, red lips, a wide chest, long arms reaching down to the knees, and very fine, beautiful fingers. Understanding this child to be of royal descent, he realized his past and wept at the thought of this being his son, Rohit. Tears began to flow from his eyes as he considered whether or not this could be his son Rohit. The queen was surprised to see this new expression on the face of the caṇḍāla.

Overwhelmed with grief she said, “I do not know what sinful acts have brought this dreadful time upon me. O my Lord! O my husband! O my King! Where are you staying peacefully now, after you left me? I am drowning in an ocean of grief. O God! What have you done? You have made King Harishchandra lose his kingdom, leave his relatives, and sell his wife and son.”

As the king began to recall everything he exclaimed, “O! She is my wife Saibya and he is my dear son Rohit!” Stricken with grief, he lost his senses and fell to the ground. The queen also fell unconscious, as the king’s words triggered overwhelming emotions after being separated for so long. Both were weeping when they regained their senses; the king cried, “I lost my kingdom, relatives, wealth, everything, due to bad fortune. I do not grieve for this at all, but, O God! You have also taken away my only son! Now I am torn asunder by this heartbreaking grief.’’ Queen Saibya slowly recognized the voice of her husband as she pondered his words, ‘He lost his kingdom? How come a king is staying in a crematorium?’ Then, after staring at the king for some time, she finally concluded that the caṇḍāla was actually her husband! She was simultaneously surprised and pleased, which eventually caused her to lose consciousness again. After regaining consciousness, she began to cry, “O cruel Almighty! Disgrace to you! You made the king lose his kingdom, leave his relatives, and sell his wife and son. As if this was not enough, you made him a caṇḍāla as well! It is very sad to learn that You have forced the king to live in this horrible place with ashes strewn about, burning pyres filled with half-burnt corpses, and bones and flesh spread all over. It is full of jackals, vultures, and other creatures that make disturbing noises, and they jump on the burning pyres trying to eat the corpses.” After hearing Saibya’s narration of the whole sequence of events leading up to their son’s death, the king lifted Rohit’s body and began kissing it profusely; then he fell unconscious. After the king regained his senses, Saibya requested him, “O dear husband! As ordered by your master, please behead me by sword and thus kill me. You must not be known as a liar. Do not hesitate to follow the instructions of your master.”

Hearing the queen’s words, the king again fell unconscious, and upon regaining his senses decided that as he had lost his only son, he also needn’t live any longer, and planned to burn himself to death by sitting on the burning pyre of his son. The king told the queen, “O my dear queen, just go and serve the brāhmaṇa, and do not disobey him by feeling proud of being a king’s wife.” Hearing this, she replied, “O my dear King! Since you have decided to give up your life by burning yourself along with our son, I shall follow you and relieve myself of these unbearable sufferings. For any wife, this is certainly the most recommended act.” The king placed the dead body of his son on the pyre, then he and the queen meditated upon the almighty God for some time.

It is further explained in Mahābharat how he was ultimately relieved of his predicament by the blessings of the Gods and Vishwamitra Muni himself. Essentially, the opulent king had to meet such a critical fate, but ultimately by divine will he performed “Annada Ekadashi” and regained everything. This Ekadashi removes all sorts of sin and grief and bestows all-auspiciousness. Though despite the potency of this Ekadashi to remove various sins and bestow worldly benefit, our aim is not to ask for any material thing, only causeless devotion to the Lord. Even if one goes to heaven by the merit of pious activities, eventually his balance of credit will become exhausted, and he will be forced to return to Earth. If we reach any place by the virtue of fruitive activities, still we will have to come back here. So, what actual benefit shall we get?

Observing Ekadashi is a powerful devotional activity, and if one observes Ekadashi-vrata in the Dhāma, those fruits are a million times more valuable. Ambarish Maharaj pleased the Lord by observing Ekadashi in Mathurā-dhāma. Though externally Ambarish Maharaj was a king, his dedicated bhajan rendered him untouchable by even the curse of the infallible Durvasha Muni. Durvasha Muni was so powerful that he could remain without food for a thousand years, then consume a thousand years’ worth of food in a single day. He performed this pastime of cursing Maharaj Ambarish only to allow the world to learn about the devotional glories of the king.

On the day of Ekadashi, he visited the king and became very angry when the king had to drink a sip of water to successfully execute his vow. He cursed the king and summoned a horrible creature to kill him, but the Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Vishnu destroyed the creature and unleashed its wrath on Durvasha Muni. The Muni traveled all over the universe, to the creator, Brahma, and to Lord Shiva to get rescued, but none of them could save him from the torment of the Chakra. Ultimately, he came to Lord Vishnu to get protection from the Chakra, and Vishnu told him that because Maharaj Ambarish already stole his heart away with devotion, he no longer had the heart with which he could have forgiven him. So, Vishnu advised him to go to Maharaj Ambarish and beg forgiveness. On the other hand, the king had been fasting for one year since Durvasha Muni (who is a brāhmaṇa) left in anger without accepting food. Ambarish Maharaj was such a devotee, that despite being reproached by the sage, he never harbored any ill feelings or hostility. Similarly, we should not think about the bad qualities of others. If we die while thinking about bad qualities, what benefit shall we get? When Durvasha Muni requested the king to save him from the Chakra, Maharaj Ambarish immediately relinquished all his accumulated pious activities to save the sage’s life. The Lord told Durvasha Muni that He Himself is not as dear to Him as His pure devotee. He also told how Maharaj Ambarish left everything including his wife, son, kingdom, etc., only for the service of the Lord. So, one should remember that nobody in this world is his enemy other than his own mind.