Sri Shat-tila Ekadashiषट्तिला एकादशी

Once Sri Dalbhya Rishi asked the great sage Pulastya Muni: "O sage, in this Kali-yuga people commit many sins simply by being born — sins of body, mind and speech. Is there any single Ekadashi that washes away even these accumulated sins and bestows wealth and devotion both?" Pulastya Muni replied: "Yes, my child — there is one such Ekadashi. In the dark fortnight of Magha there comes the Shat-tila Ekadashi — the Ekadashi of six-fold sesame offerings. To impress its power upon you, hear this story which Lord Sri Krishna Himself once told Maharaja Yudhishthira."

In ancient times there lived a noble brahmana lady in the city of the demigods. She was utterly devoted to Lord Vishnu. She fasted on every Ekadashi, kept jagaran every night of the holy days, performed every vow with strictness — and yet there was one fatal flaw in her devotion. Although she fed Lord Vishnu's deities daily, she never gave any food in charity to a brahmana, never offered anything to the poor, never gave a single grain of food to those who came begging at her door. She thought that all her devotion was for the Lord and for herself; sharing with others did not seem necessary.

In due course she left her body. By the power of her devotion she was carried to Vaikuntha. There Lord Vishnu welcomed her warmly — but immediately He noticed something strange. Although her quarters were beautiful, they were utterly empty of food. There was a beautiful palace, but no provisions of any kind. The lady, bewildered, approached the Lord and asked: "My Lord, how can this be? I served You faithfully all my life. Why is there no food in my Vaikuntha residence?" The Lord smiled and replied: "O My devotee, you fasted often, but you never gave food. The principle of bhakti includes the principle of sharing — annadana, the gift of food. Because you withheld food on earth, you find none here. Yet a remedy remains. Tomorrow some divine ladies will visit your quarters. Greet them with respect and ask of them the secret of Shat-tila Ekadashi. Observe that Ekadashi with the six-fold offering of sesame, and from that moment your home shall be full."

The lady did exactly as the Lord instructed. She humbly asked the visiting divine ladies, who explained: "On Shat-tila Ekadashi, sesame (tila) should be employed in six ways: (1) bathing with water mixed with sesame; (2) anointing the body with sesame oil; (3) offering sesame in the sacred fire as a homa; (4) drinking water mixed with sesame; (5) eating sesame (during Dvadashi parana, in permitted form); and (6) donating sesame in charity. Fast from grains, worship Lord Vishnu, keep jagaran in kirtan, and especially give sesame and food to brahmanas and Vaishnavas. By this six-fold tila offering, every previous deficiency of charity is corrected, and every form of poverty — material as well as spiritual — is removed."

The lady observed Shat-tila Ekadashi with the full six-fold offering and gave generously to all who came. From that day her Vaikuntha quarters were filled with every imaginable opulence, and the original flaw of her bhakti was eternally healed. Sage Pulastya concluded to Dalbhya: "O child, anyone who observes Shat-tila Ekadashi with the six-fold offering of tila, and who especially gives food in charity, is freed from the karmic poverty of countless lifetimes. Sesame, dear to Lord Vishnu, contains within it the essence of all austerity, all charity and all sacrifice when offered on this day. There is no Ekadashi in the cold month of Magha greater than this one."