The effect of observing Ekādaśī is illustrated in the story of the life of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja observed Ekādaśī tithi with great devotion in Mathurā-dhāma, Vraja-maṇḍala, for one year at a stretch. Kṛṣṇa was so satisfied by this, that the curse of Durvāsā Ṛṣi could not touch Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. In the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam you will find that Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke the following to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:

nāspṛśad brahma-śāpo ‘pi
yaṁ na pratihataḥ kvacit
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 9.4.13)

The curse of a brāhmaṇa cannot go unfulfilled or be warded off. But nonetheless, it could not touch Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. Parīkṣit Mahārāja was astounded to hear this. “I was born in the Pāṇḍava family. The Pāṇḍavas are very dear to Kṛṣṇa. When I was in the womb of my mother Uttarā, Aśvatthāmā unleashed a brahmāstra, a missile, with the aim of destroying all the Pāṇḍavas. At that time, when my mother was crying, Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa protected me with His Sudarśana-cakra by covering my mother’s womb. So my name is Viṣṇurāta, as I have been protected and saved by Viṣṇu. I was also able to see my Object of Worship, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, from within the womb. After my birth, I searched for that object, ‘Where is that Purūṣa? Where is that Object of Worship?’ I was examining. The Sanskrit word ‘parīkṣa’ means, ‘examining’. So, my name is Parīkṣit.” He continued, “I was born in the Pāṇḍava family, I was protected by Kṛṣṇa. I also saw Kṛṣṇa when I was in the womb, and after birth I tried to find that Purūṣa Whom I had seen. Yet I am waiting here, knowing that after seven days I shall be killed by snakebite, having been cursed by the son of Śamīka Muni.”

The history of this curse began when, one day, Parīkṣit Mahārāja had gone to the cottage of Śamīka Muni to ask for water, as he was very thirsty. At that time, Śamīka Muni was meditating and was unconscious of Parīkṣit Mahārāja’s presence. When he received no response, Parīkṣit Mahārāja became enraged: “I am in your cottage. You are not offering water to a thirsty person?” So, with indignation and wrath, he placed a dead snake around the neck of the muni as an insult. After Parīkṣit Mahārāja left the cottage and returned home, he repented: “Pāṇḍavas always respect brāhmaṇas, munis. I have been born in the Pāṇḍava family. I have done a very wrong thing.” In this way, he deeply repented his behavior, and prayed to Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, “Oh, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, please punish me, as I have done a very wrong thing.”

Outside the cottage of Śamīka Muni, his son, Śṛṅgi, had been playing with the sons of the other ṛṣis. When Śṛṅgi came to the cottage, he saw that someone had put the body of a dead snake around the neck of his father. He was disheartened and became furious. “Who has done this sinful thing? If I am the son of my father, a brāhmaṇa, then I curse that, on the seventh day from today, the person who has done this will be killed by snakebite!” Then he began to weep.

Śamīka Muni opened his eyes. “What is the matter?” he asked. “Why are you weeping?”

Śṛṅgi said, “Somebody has insulted you with this dead snake.” He told his father about the curse he had placed on whoever had done this.

Śamīka Muni said, “Oh! You have done the wrong thing. Parīkṣit Mahārāja is a religious minded person, born in the Pāṇḍava family. He has the right to chastise me. You are a brāhmaṇa, but you became impatient and have improperly delivered this curse.”

Śamīka Muni sent a ṛṣi boy to the capital city of Parīkṣit Mahārāja to inform him of the curse, so that he could prepare himself for its effect. The boy reached the court of Parīkṣit Mahārāja and told him that the son of Śamīka Muni had cursed him to die by snakebite after seven days.

Then Parīkṣit Mahārāja became happy. “Yes,” he thought. “Kṛṣṇa has love for me, so He has sent this curse giving me seven days time until I shall die. Nobody can know in advance that he will die at a specific moment. But I have been granted the time to prepare for seven days.”

So, he made up his mind to renounce his household life. He called his son, Janamejaya, and told him, “You take over my position as king. I am going to Sukartāla by the side of the Ganges. I have no time to waste. I must prepare myself. You remain here.”

At times of peril and danger, our minds become changed. I had one such experience when I was a college student. I was sent by our revered father to Victoria College in Coochbihar, where I received my Bachelor of Arts degree. There was a very big hostel there. Once, a famous astrologer came there and predicted that at such-and-such time, on such-and-such date, there will be universal dissolution. Everything will be annihilated—destroyed. All the residents of the hostel gathered together—I was among them—and they were saying that the prediction of this astrologer would come true, since he had never been wrong before. So, there we were, considering what we should do. We thought, “We shall die in the evening. Everything will be destroyed.” There was a restaurant within the compound of the hostel. We all decided, “Let us eat! Let us go to the restaurant and eat as much as we can enjoy. Our parents have given us money, so let us utilize it. They will be very happy that we have the brains to reason that we shall all die, so what is the use of keeping this money? Let us go.” I also went with them to the restaurant. Everyone was ordering various kinds of sweets from the waiter. We were eating and eating and eating and, after some time, we could not eat any more. We spent all our money, so we thought we were very intelligent. “Our parents will think that we have done well,” we thought.

After that, we went to our room and discussed things until the time for the end of the world was to come. The time came and passed, and there was no dissolution, no end of the world, nothing. “Oh-ho! We have been deceived! What will we say to our parents?” We discussed this among ourselves.

During all this, one of our friends had been asleep in the room. All of a sudden, he woke up, shouting, “Universal dissolution!! Universal dissolution!!” He started crying and running about, until he finally fell down, shouting all the while. The people who saw him asked, “What universal dissolution? What is he saying? He must have had a bad dream.”

During all this, no one had suggested, “Let us worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” I also had not said anything. I had gone along with them because there were so many of them. What could I say? They took me along. Like that, when there are no eternal good deeds, no eternal good impressions, no “sukṛti” (as it is called in scripture), nobody has the aptitude to worship Kṛṣṇa. Even if we are told, “In the evening, everything will be destroyed! You should prepare and worship Kṛṣṇa,” we still will not worship Him. We will go off with the students, to enjoy.

Parīkṣit Mahārāja is a Vaiṣṇava. He made the decision to renounce his household life and, consequently, went to Śrīkanta. I have been to that place with Guru Mahārāja several times. It is in Uttar Pradesh, about 20 kilometers from Muzaffarnagar. It is still considered to be a sacred place. When Parīkṣit Mahārāja went there, all the ṛṣi munis also went there, thinking that something miraculous was about to happen, because Parīkṣit Mahārāja is no ordinary person. Then Parīkṣit Mahārāja asked them, “I have only one week’s time. Please advise me what I should do.” There were many ṛṣis — karmi-ṛṣis, jñānī-ṛṣis and yogī-ṛṣīs — all offering different methods of obtaining emancipation. Some of the more ordinary karmi-ṛṣis said, “You have money. If you donate money, then you will be rescued.

Others among the karmi-ṛṣis said, “No, there isn’t much time. You have to perform oblations,” and they gave him a list of articles that he should obtain so they could make sacrifices.

A third group, made up of jñānī-ṛṣis said, “No, no! By performing these karma-kāṇḍa sacrifices, you cannot be rescued. You have to perform meditation!”

The yogī-ṛṣīs insisted that he should perform prāṇayāma.

Parīkṣit Mahārāja was puzzled. “What should I do?” he thought. Then he took absolute shelter of the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. “Please rescue me! I have a family connection with the Pāṇḍavas. Please show me the path!”

Kṛṣṇa then sent His own man, Śukadeva Gosvāmī. You cannot automatically get the company of the bonafide sādhu. There must be some good qualities, some previous good impressions (sukṛti). Otherwise, you cannot get it. At that time, Śukadeva Gosvāmī was only sixteen years of age. He was mahā-tyāgī, completely renounced, and he wandered through the villages naked. All the villagers thought he was a mad person. They would throw stones and other things at him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī did not protest this, because he was beyond this world. The villagers could not understand Śukadeva Gosvāmī. But, when he set his holy footprints in Sukartāla by the side of the Ganges, all the ṛṣi-munis stood up upon seeing him, out of respect. A learned person can give respect to a learned person. An ignorant person has no capacity to understand a learned person. A sādhu can understand a sādhu. A non-sādhu cannot understand a sādhu. All the ṛṣi-munis assembled there understood that he was not an ordinary man.

When Śukadeva Gosvāmī arrived there, he said to Parīkṣit Mahārāja, “I am Śukadeva. Before coming here, I was firmly established in brahmānanda but I have been attracted by the absolute, sweet qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa:

pariniṣṭhito ’pi nairguṇya uttama-śloka-līlayā
gṛhīta-cetā rājarṣe ākhyānaṁ yad adhītavān
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 2.1.9)

So, I am advising you to hear about the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, for these seven days. You should not do anything else.”

No ṛṣi-muni had the capacity to say anything against this advice. They all sat there while Śukadeva Gosvāmī sang and narrated the glories of Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Parīkṣit Mahārāja listened attentively for seven days without taking anything—without taking water, food or rest. Can we do this?

Śukadeva Gosvāmī was worried. “Mahārāja,” he said, “won’t you take some rest? Perhaps a little bit of water or some food?”

Parīkṣit Mahārāja answered him, “You should not concern yourself with this. I have no time!”

naiṣātiduḥsahā kṣun māṁ
tyaktodam api bādhate
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 10.1.13)

“I am thirsty. I know that without water, nobody can survive. I am also hungry. But this hunger and thirst cannot become an obstacle to my hearing, because I have no time. After seven days I shall die. So, do not think about me. I have no feeling for these things. My mind is here:

pibantaṁ tvan-mukhāmbhoja-
cyutaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.1.13 continued)

“You are distributing hari-kathāmṛtam and, so, I am satisfied. I have no thirst or hunger and I do not require any rest.”

He heard continuously for seven days and, thus, attained the objective.

Nowadays, if you assemble ten, twelve or perhaps one hundred persons under such conditions, everyone will be fidgeting with discomfort. But Parīkṣit Mahārāja maintained pin-drop silence.

So, Parīkṣit Mahārāja asked, “Even though I was born in the Pāṇḍava family and Kṛṣṇa has protected me, I am waiting here because after seven days I shall be killed. So, what then of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja and the curse of a brāhmaṇa like Durvāsā? Even if anyone hears about Durvāsā, they tremble because Durvāsā can remain without food for one thousand years. But he can also eat one thousand years’ worth of food in one day. So everyone shivers when they hear that he may be coming. ‘He may bless us, or he may curse us!’ they think. He is such a powerful ṛṣi, but his curse could not even touch Ambarīṣa Mahārāja? That is very astounding!” he exclaimed.

But, because Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had observed Ekādaśī, as per the devotional, scriptural injunctions, for one year, Kṛṣṇa was satisfied and the curse of Durvāsā Ṛṣi could not harm him.

Then, Parīkṣit Mahārāja wanted to hear the holy biography of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. Śukadeva Gosvāmī said:

ambarīṣo mahā-bhāgaḥ
sapta-dvīpavatīṁ mahīm
avyayāṁ ca śrīyaṁ labdhvā
vibhavaṁ cātulaṁ bhuvi

mene ‘tidurlabhaṁ puṁsāṁ
sarvaṁ tat svapna-saṁstutam
vidvān vibhava-nirvāṇaṁ
tamo viśati yat pumān
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.4.15-16)

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was the sole proprietor of the whole world, consisting of seven islands (sapta-dvīpavatīṁ), meaning seven continents. This story in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is scriptural evidence that at one time there was one blessed and most fortunate Vaiṣṇava emperor, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, who became the autocrat of the whole world. If we meet someone who is wealthy, we say that he is fortunate. We say that Henry Ford was fortunate because he was one of the richest men in the world. So, in that sense, we say that Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was fortunate, because he was the sole proprietor of the whole world. He was the richest person in the whole world. If one were the owner of the whole world, his wealth would be undecaying and of unparalleled opulence. There would not be anyone equal to him. But, nonetheless, despite possessing this inexhaustible supply of wealth, all this opulence, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had the knowledge that this opulence would not last long. It is like seeing a dream. In a dream, you may see that you have become the Prime Minister of England or the President of the United States. But, when you wake up, you find yourself in your own bedroom, just lying in bed. It is all false. Like that, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had the knowledge that whatever he had was all non-eternal. It would not last. An ordinary human being cannot even imagine becoming the sole owner of the whole world. If he were to become Henry Ford, or Tata or Birla in India, that would be sufficient. He would not want more. He cannot even think beyond that. But, in spite of Ambarīṣa getting this huge property, he understood that it had no actual substance—it was all a dream. He had the knowledge that, although he presently had wealth, he could be separated from it at any time during his life. There are many very rich people, even in India. We have seen one particular person who was very wealthy. But, after some years, he became a pauper, a street beggar. In this lifetime, he lost everything. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja understood that, “Although I have this wealth, I may become separated from it. Or I may leave this world and all this will remain here. Nothing will go with me. As long as I am here, I might have it. But, when I die, I will not be able to take even a farthing of it with me.” He had the knowledge that separation from this world is inevitable. He knew that anyone who thinks, “I am the owner, I am the enjoyer,” will meet an infernal end.

The Supreme Lord is the only Master and Owner. We are not masters or owners. Being enveloped by the illusory energy, we think that we are masters and enjoyers and, for this reason, we are being punished. We have come to this prison-house, this world, passing through countless cycles of births and deaths, where we are afflicted by the three-fold miseries of material life. We have received this punishment because we are not the owner, but we pose as the owner. You have gone through the lectures of Most Revered Parampūjyapāda A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svāmī Mahārāja. He said that there is a simple formula for getting peace: the Supreme Lord is the only Proprietor and Master. However, we falsely claim to be masters. For instance, this Maṭh started only a few years ago. Before that time, this property belonged to somebody else who was thinking, “This is mine.” Now you are saying, “It is ours.” And, after some time, one hundred years, one thousand years, someone will also claim it as their own. So, who is the proprietor? Who is the master? The Master is the Supreme Lord. Will we accept the Supreme Lord as the only Owner and Master? We are not even the owners of our own bodies. This body also belongs to the Supreme Lord. The śuṣma (subtle body) also belongs to the Supreme Lord, as it has come from the external potency of the Supreme Lord. Ātmā has come from the parā potency of the Supreme Lord. The potency of Kṛṣṇa and the products of that potency all belong to Kṛṣṇa—the gross body, the subtle body and the real self. Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. I have no right to use it for myself. It should be dedicated to the service of Kṛṣṇa. I am guilty of unrighteousness by using that which does not belong to me. Kṛṣṇa is the only Master and Enjoyer. You are not the owner of your house. You are not the owner of your wife and children. You must believe this on a practical level, not a theoretical one. If you actually believe it, you will immediately find peace. When you demand, “This is my house, these are my people,” then you will fight with others. But if you say, “Kṛṣṇa, everything belongs to You, I have nothing,” then where is the reason for quarrel? This is the simple formula for obtaining peace. “Tamo viśati yat pumān” : If we have this sort of evil thinking, that the objects of the world are for our enjoyment, then we will fall into hell. An ascetic, such as myself, does not earn money. Let us imagine that I collect some money from the devotees, build a Maṭh with it, and then demand, “This is mine!” People will say, “What is this? This is very strange! With our money you have built a temple and you are demanding that you are the proprietor? What is this? You should be ashamed!” But, actually, we do have this sort of mentality and we fall into hell.

But Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had the knowledge that everything belongs to the Supreme Lord and nothing belongs to us. He had no attachment to anything. Why? We would not even be able to give up our attachment to a cottage, or a small shop, or even £10,000. This is because we have no taste of the sweetness of the Supreme Lord. Śukadeva Gosvāmī told Parīkṣit Mahārāja that Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had no attachment because he had tasted the sweetness of Vāsudeva:

vāsudeve bhagavati
tad-bhakteṣu ca sādhuṣu
prāpto bhāvaṁ paraṁ viśvaṁ
yenedaṁ loṣṭravat smṛtam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.4.17)

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had superior ānanda (bliss).

Go through the explanation given by Śrīla Bhaktivinode Ṭhākura on the following Bhagavad-gītā verse:

viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya paraṁ dṛṣtvā nivartate
(Bhagavad-gītā 2.59)

He says that observing a complete fast does not mean that we have given up our inclination to take food. For instance, when we first entered our Maṭh, we were advised by the Mahārājas there that, if we wanted to take food on Ekādaśī, we should take very little, maybe a few pieces of fruit and some potato. But, if we only took this, our stomach was always burning. So we had given things up, but what was the use of having given them up? So, now we take fruits, potato, but also curries, etc., so we do not feel that burning sensation. On Ekādaśī the brahmacārīs are very hungry, so they prepare what they will eat the next morning. Also, in our Maṭhs, there are “maṭh rakṣasas” who look after the functions of the Maṭh. If you ask them, they will tell you that no one takes rice or wheat, etc. on Ekādaśī but, on the days before and after Ekādaśī, the brahmacārīs are eating double! So, the inclination for taking food is not stopped by observing a fast. For that reason, viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ: withdrawing the senses from the objects of the senses, in the manner of a jñānī or a yogī, is not safe.

Saubharī Ṛṣi was a great saint in the jñānī school of thought. He performed penance for 10,000 years under the water. We cannot remain under water for even five minutes. But, on seeing the sexual activity of the fishes there, he developed a desire to marry. He came out of the water and married fifty daughters of Māndhātā. Being a jñānī, he fell down from his severe penance and instead became the head of a great family. Viśvāmitra was a great yogī. When he came in contact with Menakā, the apsarā (heavenly prostitute), he also had a spiritual fall. This was because they had no taste of the sweetness of the Supreme Lord. The jñānīs and yogis are performing penance, but they will fall. We all have material senses and, as we attempt to enjoy the objects of those senses, we become entangled. If you merely stop this activity, it will not be sufficient. The cause of the material sense organs is the spiritual sense organs, and the object of the spiritual senses is Madana-Mohana—Govinda. You have an attraction for the worldly śabda, sparśa, rūpa — sound, touch, form, etc. But there is also transcendental, sweet sound, transcendental touch—everything—and we can taste it by means of transcendental, spiritual senses. If your existence and ego are in this material world, then your perception will be material. But if, by the Lord’s grace, you can enter into the transcendental realm, then, by means of transcendental sense organs, you will experience sweet love, transcendental touch, etc.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had gotten a taste of the sweetness of Vāsudeva and the sweetness of His devotees and, as a result, he had no attachment to worldly things. If you have no taste of the superior rasa, you cannot give up material attachments. For instance, there is one kind of treacle, which is mixed with a kind of inferior quality molasses. It is not good. It is very nasty. But a person who does not have good molasses or sugar might use it, and might find that some sort of sweetness is there. He has been taught that you should not take this because it will make you ill. After many warnings, he says, “All right, I shall not take it.” But he continues to take it secretly, because he has no taste for anything better. When he is given good molasses, then he will no longer wish to take the inferior kind. Like that, when we have the taste of the sweetness of the Supreme Lord, we will become totally detached from this world. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was indifferent to worldly things because he was getting the taste of the sweetness of Vāsudeva and His personal associates. He thought that this worldly property was like a lump of dirt, having no value. He thought like that, but we are unable to think this way because we have no superior taste. We may speak, but we have no actual feeling.

Being a king, how had Ambarīṣa Mahārāja acquired such love for Kṛṣṇa and His devotees? Many householders who come to our Maṭh say, “Svāmījī, we come to the Maṭh to participate in the holy functions and to hear the sādhus. But we have so many worries, great difficulties and so many duties to perform. For this reason, we have no time to come often.”

Then I ask, “Do you have time to eat food?”

“Yes,” they reply, “we have to eat or we will become weak.”

“So you take breakfast?”

“Yes, I have time to take breakfast. Sometimes I take my meals to work. If I feel weak, then I cannot do my work. It is necessary.”

Your ātmā is now sleeping. Ātmā’s food is ātmā. Because ātmā is asleep, you feel no hunger for ātmā—ātmā’s food. You are only conscious of the body. You think that you can afford to give time to tend to the necessities of the body. You might be very engaged in something else, but you will always take off some time to take food. How many times a day do you eat? First breakfast, then lunch, then dinner and after that maybe supper—sometimes four times a day! Like this, you are taking so much time. Necessity is the mother of invention. When you think that this is your necessity, then you give time. Your ātmā is now in a dormant state. It is sleeping. You have no hunger. Ātmā requires ātmā for its sustenance and maintenance. Without the touch of ātmā, ātmā cannot have satisfaction. But, “We are very busy! We are very busy! We are very busy! We’ve got no time!”

Our Guru Mahārāja used to give the instance of General Goering, the right hand man of the dictator, Adolf Hitler, who created chaos throughout the whole world—a tyrant. Once, General Goering gave a statement about how he recruited candidates for the Nazi forces.

“When candidates come to apply to be admitted into the force,” he said, “I divide them into four categories: clever and industrious, clever and lazy, stupid and industrious and stupid and lazy. Generally, for my force, I choose the clever and industrious, but I make the chief of the department clever and lazy.”

Then he was asked, “Why? The commander then has one quality less than the others. Why have you given the highest position of Commander-in-Chief to one who is clever and lazy?” Goering replied, “It is not in our best interest to be always engaged in war. If we give the position of commander to those who are both clever and industrious, they are incapable of remaining idle. They will always want to do something and will start fighting. For this reason, the commander must be clever and know the interest of the country, but only in extreme circumstances will he fight—not so easily. So I choose someone who is clever and lazy for the position of commander.”

He continued, “Those who are stupid and lazy, I accept in small numbers. These types will do little harm. I can manage them. But, if they are stupid and industrious, they will do just the opposite of what they should and I always have to make good of it after the fact. Because of this, I have to expend so much energy. So, I am one thousand per cent against the stupid and industrious.” So, to which group do we belong? Stupid and industrious: “We are very busy, very busy! We’ve got no time to go and associate with the sādhus.” When you are hungry, you will go automatically. But now, you have no hunger.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had engaged all his sense organs and everything he owned for the service of Kṛṣṇa:

sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padārvindayor
vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane
karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu
śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye

mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane dṛśau
tad-bhṛtya gātra-sparśe ’ṅga-saṅgamam
ghrāṇaṁ ca tad-pāda-saroja-saurabhe
śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṁ tad-arpite

pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpane
śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane
kāmaṁ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā
yathottamaśloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.4.18-20)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī was speaking to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: “sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padārvindayor”. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja engaged his mind in thinking about the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The mind is the king of all the sense organs. If the mind is concentrated on the Object of Worship, then the other senses, being subservient to it, cannot do anything except service to the Supreme Lord. So, first of all, he engaged his mind in thinking about the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord.

“Vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane”: he engaged his words, his tongue, in singing the glories of Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas. “Vaikuṇṭha” means Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is transcendental: pūrṇa. “Viṣnu ya idam viśvam vyāpnoti iti viṣnu.” He is Complete Reality and the Vaiṣṇavas are His pure devotees, His personal associates. You will find in the scriptures that there can be no devotion if one vilifies the sādhus or other persons. You have to sing their glories. This is the positive side of devotional activity. If you go on speaking ill of others, your mind will become polluted. Your mind will only find the bad qualities of those persons. So what benefit will you gain? You should govern yourself, discipline yourself, restrain yourself. You should rectify yourself. You have many defects within you. When you observe the qualities of others, you see that human beings have both defects and merits mixed together. But the sādhu only sees the good qualities and he ignores the bad qualities. We enslaved jīvās discard the good qualities and see the bad qualities. So we are not sādhus. Sādhu is paramahaṁsa. “Haṁsa” means “swan”. What is the special quality of the swan? If milk is mixed with water, the swan can extract the milk from the water. He has this capacity. So, the Vaiṣṇava is paramahaṁsa: they take the essence of things, the good things, and they give up the bad things. So, you must sing the glories of Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and you must sing the glories of the devotees. Why are you taking the risk of speaking ill of anybody? It is very risky. By speaking ill of others, ultimately you are speaking ill of the Vaiṣṇavas, you are speaking ill of the gurus, and you will be completely separated from the spiritual realm and devotional development.

“Karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu”: he engaged his two hands in scrubbing the temple with water, etc. Some would say, “He is a king and he has not engaged any servant or priest to perform worship? Instead he himself is doing this. Is he a miser?” No, he is not a miser. He is serving all the Vaiṣṇavas. He knows, “This is my necessity, to serve Kṛṣṇa. If I serve Kṛṣṇa, I shall develop love for Kṛṣṇa.” Wherever I engage my sense organs and objects of the senses, I shall go to that. If I engage my sense organs in the temporary things of the world, I shall develop an attachment for those things. I shall be in bondage. Knowing this fully, Ambarīṣa was the sole owner of the whole world and he engaged everything he had for the service of Kṛṣṇa—everything. If we are not worshipping in this way, how can we claim to have love for Kṛṣṇa? He had engaged everything.

“Śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye”: Ambarīṣa engaged his ears in hearing the glories of the Supreme Lord. What is the meaning of “sat-kathā”? We will frequently engage the ears to hear professional platform speakers. There are many platform speakers like myself. From the platform he is speaking nice, high, lofty words, but his life demonstrates no practical application of it. It is all idle chatter—always speaking, speaking without any practical application. We cannot teach others belief in, and worship of, God, if we do not worship God ourselves. Example is better than precept. There should be personal example. You should practice. You will find that, if one actually practices, but does not speak anything at all, that will have actual influence upon others.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja heard only the words of the bonafide sādhus. His life was dedicated to the service of hearing sat-kathā: actual hari-kathā:

yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5,131)

You have to hear Bhāgavata from a true Vaiṣṇava. Then you can get devotion.

Time is passing. So much time is passing. At any moment, we may leave this place. What will go with us? We busily acquire money, perhaps millions of dollars, and then we die. What will go with us? Everything will remain here. Nothing will go with us except devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is our only wealth. How many of us are thinking about this?

Our Chidghanānanda brahmacārī once told me, when I was in Chandigarh, that one famous speaker on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam had come to Chandigarh and had been delivering lectures on Kṛṣṇa. A lady devotee had asked Chidghanānanda, “You are not going? You are a devotee. Many thousands of people have gathered there to hear this person. You should go there. You will be benefited.”

Chidghanānanda replied, “I have many duties that I have been assigned to do by the Gosvāmīs and other senior Vaiṣṇavas. If I find the time, I shall go.”

Then, the next day, the lady returned and approached him again. “Did you go yesterday?” she asked.

“No, no,” he replied. “I have not had any time. What can be done? I am at the service of my superior Vaiṣṇavas.”

The third day, she asked again, “Have you gone to see the speaker?”

“No,” Chidghanānanda again replied. Then he asked her, “Why are you saying that he is a great saint and that I should go to hear him? What special quality does he have that makes you say this?”

She replied, “To hear his sermon, you have to pay 10,000 rupees!”

“Oh,” Chidghanānanda replied, “Then, I shall not go there! If one pays 10,000 rupees, then his sayings are very valuable. But they are valuable only in reference to 10,000 rupees. I have no time for that.” The Gauḍīya Maṭh standard is different. They are not like ordinary people. They can understand this point.

“Mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane dṛśau”: Ambarīṣa Mahārāja engaged his eyes to see mukunda-liṅgālaya, the temple where Mukunda (Kṛṣṇa) is worshipped, and also to have the vision, the darśana, of Mukunda. The temple includes the Deities inside the temple. Pure devotees are also temples, because Bhagavān resides within the hearts of the pure devotees. So, he engaged his eyes to see the temple, the Deities and the devotees, who are also temples. As time is short and I have to leave this place tomorrow, I have no time to speak about Deities. If I were to stay here for several more days, we could discuss this fully. But you should know that we are not idolaters. We are worshippers of the Deity, vigraha is quite different:

nāma vigraha svarūpa—tina eka-rūpa
tine ‘bheda’ nahi—tine ‘cid-ānanda-rūpa’
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 17.131)

Deities are All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss. We should believe this.

“Tad-bhṛtya gātra-sparśe ’ṅga-saṅgamam”: Ambarīṣa Mahārāja used his sense of touch to have the touch of the lotus feet of the Vaiṣṇavas, so he could acquire devotion. “Ghrāṇaṁ ca tad-pāda-saroja-saurabhe”: he engaged his nose in smelling the scent of Tulasī and the flowers that had been offered to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. By these methods, he received only divine sense impressions, even through the sense of smell. He had engaged everything for the service of Kṛṣṇa. “Śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṁ tad-arpite”: did he take whatever foodstuffs he found to be good? No. Whatever cannot be offered to the Supreme Lord, he would not take. Fish, flesh, eggs, onions, garlic, red lentils, etc. are prohibited in the scriptures. They cannot be offered to Viṣṇu. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja would offer only those foods that can be offered to Viṣṇu and, then, take the remnants—prasādam. “He is a very good person. He eats whatever is given to him.” No, this is not correct thinking:

āhāra-śuddhau citta-śuddhiḥ
citta-śuddhau dhruvā smṛtir
smṛti-lambhe sarvagranthīnāṁ vipramokṣaḥ
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.26.2)

If your heart is not pure, then your mind will be impure. You will not be able to meditate. Āhāra-śuddhi. If you eat foods that are in tamo-guṇa, then tamo-guṇa will increase. If you eat foods in rajo-guṇa, then rajo-guṇa will increase, and foods in sattva-guṇa will increase sattva-guṇa. But, if you take prasādam, it is nirguṇa (devoid of material qualities) and devotion will increase. We take prasādam. We do not even take sattva-guṇa foodstuffs. We are not “vegetarians”. We take only prasādam, that which can be offered to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Anything else, we will not take.

“Pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpane”: he engaged his two legs in going to the holy places of pilgrimage, which are in the transcendental realm of the Supreme Lord. Then he would engage his two legs in the service of circumambulating the temple and going to fetch the various articles of worship.

“Śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane”: all the sense organs are in the head of the body. By praying to the Supreme Lord with your head, one engages all the sense organs at once. Hṛṣīkeśa is the Lord of all the senses. You have to worship Him by bowing down your head to His lotus feet.

“Kāmaṁ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā”: he had even engaged desire itself for the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. If there is desire to serve Kṛṣṇa and to serve the devotees, they will rescue us. If there is a desire to enjoy this world, then that desire will take us to worldly things and we will become entangled. We will go to hell. For that reason, he had engaged all that he had for the service of Kṛṣṇa, and he was filled with kṛṣṇa-prema. All other activities had been stopped, so that māyā would not be able to enter. All his sense organs were engaged for the service of Kṛṣṇa. If you are to get Kṛṣṇa, you have to do this. Now, this is the main subject. One day, Durvāsā Ṛṣi set his holy footprints at the house of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja in Madhuvana (a part of Vṛndāvana). At that time Ambarīṣa Mahārāja observed Ekādaśī in the following way: on Daśamī (the tenth day of the lunar month), he would take only one meal, on Ekādaśī (the eleventh day of the lunar month), he would abstain from all food and, on Dvādaśī (the twelfth day of the lunar month), he would take only one meal. In those days, people had the capacity to abstain from food completely on Ekādaśī. There is a fixed time to take pāraṇa (breaking of the Ekādaśī fast), when you must take something that you have abstained from on Ekādaśī. In this way, your vow will have been observed correctly. Then this is hari-vrata, because you are doing it for the satisfaction of Hari. On Dvādaśī, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja served all the brāhmaṇas, sādhus and other guests with gifts and prasādam. After serving them, he went to take pāraṇa.

At that moment, Durvāsā Ṛṣi arrived unexpectedly and said, “Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, I am Durvāsā.” Ambarīṣa Mahārāja replied, “I am most fortunate that such a great brāhmaṇa sannyāsī has come to my house. Today is Dvādaśī. I pray that you will take food here.”

“Yes,” Durvāsā Ṛṣi replied, “I shall take food. But first, I shall go to the Yamunā to bathe. After I take my bath, I shall come here to eat.”

Durvāsā Ṛṣi went to bathe. Upon seeing the pure water of the Yamunā, he became completely and ecstatically absorbed in thoughts of Brahman. He completely forgot to come back to Ambarīṣa Mahārāja’s house to eat. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja began to think, “There is not much time left for pāraṇa. If I do not break my fast, I shall commit an offense to Hari. But, if I eat before Durvāsā, I shall commit an offense to the lotus feet of the brāhmaṇa sannyāsī whom I have invited here to take food. This is a great dilemma.” So, he sought advice from the brāhmaṇas who were present there. “What shall I do?” he asked. “You can take water,” they advised. “By taking water, you will not be violating the honor of a guest, and you will also complete your fast and perform pāraṇa.” So, at the advice of the brāhmaṇas, he took a drop of water.

But Durvāsā Ṛṣi could understand by his mystic power that Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had taken water. He thought, “Ambarīṣa Mahārāja is the emperor of the whole world. So, he has some vanity. I did not go to his house with the intention of taking food—he invited me. I am a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī. If one who is a brāhmaṇa and a sannyāsī is invited by a householder to eat and that householder takes food earlier than he, then the whole of society will be destroyed! Ambarīṣa Mahārāja is the emperor and also a religious-minded person and he has done this. His guests will quote this instance and others will follow his example. No, I cannot allow this. I shall give an exemplary punishment so that no man of this world will again commit this heinous offense. It is a very great sin.”

Then Durvāsā Ṛṣi became enraged and said to Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, “So, you have become proud that you are the emperor of the world? I have come to you to take food. You personally invited me. You know that I am a brāhmaṇa and a sannyāsī. Even if an ordinary guest comes to you, you must give food to him. So, without your guest having been fed, you have taken food yourself? This is wrong behavior. I shall punish you!”

Durvāsā Ṛṣi plucked a hair from his head and threw it down. A goddess appeared from it, wielding a weapon to kill Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. She ran toward the king, but he did not flee. He said, “I am a householder, I am a kṣatriya. In all respects, I am inferior to you and you have the right to punish me. Whatever you choose to do, I accept.”

But, by the standing order of Nārāyaṇa, the Sudarśana-cakra appeared. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was the king. He was the emperor and the sole proprietor of the whole world, but he had no attachment to it. Outside people cannot understand this. So, Nārāyaṇa said, “Oh, Sudarśana-cakra, whenever Ambarīṣa is in difficulty, immediately go and rescue him!” Sudarśana-cakra came and burnt the goddess to ashes. Then it began to chase Durvāsā Ṛṣi. Durvāsā began to flee from the burning sensation of the cakra. Durvāsā Ṛṣi was fleeing from one direction to another. No matter in which direction he fled, Sudarśana-cakra followed. Durvāsā even entered the ocean, but the cakra came there also and immediately gave him burning pain. He felt as if he were dying from the miseries of the burning sensation of Sudarśana-cakra. He sought refuge in a cave of Sumeru Mountain, but the cakra followed him into there as well. Eventually, he went to Satya-loka to take shelter of Lord Brahmā. But Brahmā said, “This Sudarśana-cakra is unbearable. It is the punishment of Nārāyaṇa. We think we are the creators, but we are not. Only as per the direction of Nārāyaṇa have we been given the capacity to create this universe. We are under Him. We are not His superiors. We cannot stop Sudarśana-cakra. Sudarśana-cakra is as unbearable to us as it is to you.”

Durvāsā Ṛṣi then went to take shelter of Mahādeva (Śiva). Durvāsā had been born from the power of Mahādeva, so actually he was the expansion of Rudra (Śiva). Rudra said to him, “You see, you think that I am the destroyer. But everything is controlled by Nārāyaṇa. By His direction, Brahmā is creating and, by His direction, I am destroying. I have no independent power. This Sudarśana-cakra is the punishment of Nārāyaṇa. It is not possible for me to oppose it. It is unbearable for me also. But you have come to me, so I am blessing you. Go to Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha. He can rescue you.”

Durvāsā had no desire to go to Nārāyaṇa, but he was forced to go to ask Him to save him from this intolerable burning sensation. He went to Vaikuṇṭha and fell flat onto the ground, praying, “I have committed an offense, but please be kind to me. This Sudarśana-cakra is giving me so much pain! You are Acyuta! What is the meaning of Acyuta? Nobody can be detached from You! O Acyuta! If I am detached from You, then there is no significance to Your Name ‘Acyuta’. Since Your Name is ‘Acyuta’, You cannot be Acyuta without me. You are Acyuta, so please be kind to me.”

Nārāyaṇa did not say anything.

Durvāsā Ṛṣi continued, “You are Ananta [unending]! Your every quality is Ananta! I am in so much pain, so much suffering. I have committed an offense. I admit this. But You are Ananta and Your compassion is also Ananta. If You cannot grace me, it will bring ill repute to Your Name, Ananta. So, please rescue me from this burning sensation.”

Nārāyaṇa still did not utter a word.

“You are Viśvanātha! You are Jagannātha!” Durvāsā Ṛṣi prayed. “Why is Your Name Jagannātha? You are the Master of all the living beings of the world. I admit that I have committed an offense. But You are Jagannātha and I am an insignificant living being of this world. You are my Nātha [Lord] and I have come to You so that You may rescue me.

“Will You not be kind to me? The sādhus who worship You are always compassionate to the jīvās of this world. They always try to remove the afflictions of the suffering jīvās. They have achieved this quality by worshipping You. You have the quality of supreme compassion for the fallen souls. You are the acme of compassion. Simply by worshipping You, the sādhus become gracious, so will You not be gracious to me?”

Then Nārāyaṇa asked, “You have already gone to Brahmā and Mahādeva. Have they not offered you protection?”

“No,” Durvāsā Ṛṣi replied, “they said they are unable to protect me. They said they could not do anything, as they are subjugated by You. They are dependent upon You.”

Nārāyaṇa then replied, “I am also dependent. I am also a servant.”

“You are a servant?” Durvāsā asked in disbelief. “How can this be?”

Then Nārāyaṇa said:

ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno
hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo
bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 9.4.63)

“I have made a promise. Whoever serves Me, in return I shall serve him in the same way. When the pure devotees serve Me, I want to give them something. I say, ‘Take this,’ but they never want anything from Me. I tell them, ‘Take ownership of this brahmāṇḍa—ownership of this world, of the heavens and the netherworld.’ I offer them the eighteen kinds of attainment, including emancipation. But they do not want anything except to perform service to Me. So, I have become dependent and subjugated, as I am subdued by the devotion of My devotees. I cannot do anything. ‘Sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ.’ With one’s heart, one can be compassionate. But My heart has been swallowed and devoured by My devotees. ‘Grasta’: they have taken it. Thus, My heart is not here. It has gone to My devotees. Therefore, if you are to receive My grace, you have to go to Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. You thought Ambarīṣa Mahārāja to be a householder, a kṣatriya—an ordinary person:

nāham ātmānam āśāse
mad-bhaktaiḥ sādhubhir vinā
śriyaṁ cātyantikīṁ Brahman
yeṣāṁ gatir ahaṁ parā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 9.4.64)

Without the sādhus who have love for Me, I do not want even My own Self. Nor do I want Lakṣmī Devī and all this wealth. I want only those who take absolute shelter of Me and nothing else. You think, then, that Ambarīṣa is a householder? You think that he is engrossed in worldly things and that he has vanity? You see,

ye dārāgāra-putrāpta-prāṇān vittam imaṁ param
hitvā māṁ śaraṇaṁ yātāḥ kathaṁ tāṁs tyaktum utsahe
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.4.65)

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja has given up his wife. He has given up his house. He has given up his sons and other relatives and his very life. He has given up the whole world for Me! How can I relinquish him? How can I? Is it possible? You are seeing him as a king. But he has given up everything for Me! Is it possible that I can forsake him? It is not possible!

mayi nirbaddha-hṛdayāḥ
sādhavaḥ sama-darśanāḥ
vaśe kurvanti māṁ bhaktyā
sat-striyaḥ sat-patiṁ yathā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 9.4.66)

A chaste wife subdues a chaste husband by her service. In the same way, a devotee has one-pointed devotion to Me. They are equal to everyone, because they see everyone in relation to their devotion to Me.”

You cannot have equal vision, sama-darśana, when you have no devotion to the Supreme Lord. One of the brahmacārīs in Calcutta once told me, “When I came to Calcutta, I was rescued.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because one of the female devotees there told me, ‘My husband is not congenial toward this service, but I want to perform some service. So, please come once every month when my husband will not be home. I want to give something for Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu every month, so will you please come there and take it.’”

One day the brahmacārī went there but, on that particular day, the husband had not gone to the office and he was there at the house. He saw that a brahmacārī was coming. The brahmacārī was afraid. When he entered, he saw the husband sitting at the table eating. At the same time, their dog was also eating—from the same dish!

The husband said, “O brahmacārī! By taking a saffron cloth, a man cannot acquire equal darśana! I am taking food with the dog! Will you also take? Simply by wearing a saffron cloth, a man cannot become a sādhu! See? You cannot do this? Just by ringing a bell in a temple, a man cannot become a devotee! Sama-darśana! There must be sama-darśana!”

The brahmacārī then became afraid that the husband might beat him. The brahmacārī remained silent and left the house thinking, “I have been rescued. This is not sama-darśana. This man is seeing a dog. He is seeing a man. This cannot be sama-darśana.” Sama-darśana is not so easily obtained. Thousands of saints have performed immense penances to obtain sama-darśana. When we have exclusive devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then we shall see Śrī Kṛṣṇa in everything and all living beings in relation to Him. We will not see the dog, the cat or the man. We will see the Supreme Lord in every living being. That is called sama-darśana. “Myā saha vartamān iti sama.”

Nārāyaṇa told Durvāsā Ṛṣi, “You must go to Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. Only he can rescue you. I cannot rescue you because My heart is not here.”

During this time, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was feeling very dejected because Durvāsā Ṛṣi had left his home without taking any food. The king thought, “I have committed a great offense.” He took only water for a full year, after which time Durvāsā Ṛṣi returned to Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. When Durvāsā Ṛṣi arrived, he paid his obeisances to Ambarīṣa Mahārāja.

The king immediately protested, “What are you doing? In all respects, you are superior to me. I am an insignificant person, a householder. Why are you bowing to me?”

“No! No!” Durvāsā Ṛṣi cried, “I have been to Brahmā, Śiva and others. I have also been to Nārāyaṇa and He sent me to you. This Sudarśana-cakra is giving me immense pain!”

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja prayed to Sudarśana-cakra, “O Sudarśana-cakra! This brāhmaṇa is not at fault. It is my fault. He has the right to command me. He is innocent! Please stop giving him pain.”

The cakra did not respond.

“I am offering you all my piety. Please stop the burning of this brāhmaṇa.”

Still the cakra did not respond.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja then pleaded, “I am not a devotee but, if I have done any service for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, please accept all of it in lieu of this punishment and release this brāhmaṇa from your intense heat.”

Then, immediately, Sudarśana-cakra stopped.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had given all he had to rescue the very person who had come to kill him! It is not so easy to become such a sādhu. It is very difficult.

Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was so very satisfied with Ambarīṣa Mahārāja’s observance of Ekādaśī-vrata in Madhuvana-maṇḍala that the curse of Durvāsā Ṛṣi could not touch him. According to the commentary of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Durvāsā Ṛṣi delivered this curse specifically to create a pastime that would declare the glorious activities of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja.