Date: Friday 16 August 2024
Also known as: Shravana Putrada Ekadashi and Pavitropana Ekadashi
This Ekadashi is the most important one for Pushtimargi Vaishnavas as this point marked the beginning of Pushtimarg.
Shri Mahaprabhuji’s purpose on earth was to give salvation to the divine souls through the seva of Shri Krishna. However, as He pilgrimaged around India, He saw that people were moving away from the path of righteousness, morality and religious principles. And one of the main reasons for this decline was due to the effects of the following five types dosha that may be present in the embodied soul of a person:
With this worry, on the night of this Ekadashi, Shri Mahaprabhuji was resting under the Chhonkar tree at Govind Ghat, in Shrimad Gokul. At around midnight, Shri Gokul Chandramaji appeared in front of Shri Mahaprabhuji and commanded “Don’t worry about the salvation of any divine person. If you connect such a person with Me, through the process of Brahma Sambandh, I will accept them along with their dosha.” In effect, Shri Thakorji (in the form of Shri Gokul Chandramaji) was promising that He would accept the person, along with their flaws. They would be removed of their dosh to be able to perform His seva , and such the person would always belong to Him.
Shri Mahaprabhuji was overjoyed, not just because Shri Thakorji was granting such a blissful course of action for any person with a Brahma Sambandh, but also because His beloved was before Him giving Him such darshan.
Shri Mahaprabhuji then offered Shri Thakorji a soot-pavitra (of 108 knots and made from 360 strands of cotton-thread), mishri bhog, and sang His praises with the Madhurashtakam.
Pavitra Ekadshi is therefore the birth of Pustimarg and the permission to perform seva of Shri Thakorji, even where the person has many dosha (or flaws).
Shri Mahaprabhuji then asked Shri Damodardas Harsaniji, who was sleeping nearby, “Damla, did you hear anything?” He replied, “Krupanath, I heard, but could not understand anything”. Based on this reply, Shri Mahaprabhuji wrote the “Siddhant Rahasya” grantha and through this, narrated Shri Thakorji's appearance to Shri Damodardas Harsaniji verbatim. This was then followed by giving the first Brahma Sambadha to the first devotee of Pushtimarg, Shri Damodardas Harsaniji.
The very next day, on Dwadashi, Damla (as he was fondly called by Shri Mahaprabhuji) offered a pavitra to Shri Mahaprabhuji.
Ever since then, on Ekadashi, we offer Pavitra to Shri Thakorji and on Dwadashi, to our Gurudev.
About Acharya Goswami Shri Vrajotsavji Maharajshri (Indore)
Acharya Goswami Shri Vrajotsavji Maharajshri is a 16th generation direct descendent of Shri Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhuji. His father & Guru is Acharya Shri Gokulotsavji Maharajshri, an eminent scholar of Ved, Vedant and a world famed Murdhanya classical singer and awardee of Padma Bhushan & Padma Shree.
Vrajotsavji Maharaj has extensive knowledge of Pustimarg. In particular, his expertise in Gaan, DwiPadi , TriPadi , ChatushPadi , ShatPadi , AshtaPadi, Haveli Sangeet, and Dhrupad Dhamaar is deep and extensive. He has created more than 800 compositions in Khayal, Dhrupad, Rag malas, Tarana, Haveli pad, and Kavita.
Vrajotsavji Maharaj is also the scholar of SamaVeda (mother of all music) and Krishna Yajurveda. In addition to His duties of Pustimarg Guru, He has performed over 60 ancient Vedic Somyagya around the world. He has authored more than twenty books on various subjects including Vedant, Hindu philosophy and music.
