ṣaṭ-tila ekādaśi

 ṣaṭ-tila ekādaśi 

King yudhiṣṭhira requested to Lord śrīkṛṣṇa, "O Lord! It is our great fortune to hear these holy stories from you. Now please also tell stories of other ekādaśīs. Lord śrīkṛṣṇa said, "Once upon a time, great dālabhya ṛṣi asked Maharshi Pulastya, “Maharaj! Earthly people commit ghastly sins. They commit great sins by stealing money from others, get jealous by the wealth of others and even commit the greatest sin of brahmahatyāpātakaṃ(murder of Brahman). They are stuck in various kinds of bad habits yet they do not go to hell. What is the mystery behind this? What charity do they do by which their sins are destroyed? Kindly reveal the secret behind this paradox. Maharshi Pulastya said, "O devarṣi! You have asked me very important question, it will be very beneficial for the world. This secret is not even known by Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Indra and other Gods, but I will reveal this mystery you. The Ekadashi falling in kṛṣṇapakṣaṃ of puṣyamāsaṃ is ṣaṭtila. This ekadaśi removes greatest of sins and gives unparralled merits. I will tell you the significance of great puṣya māsaṃ and ekādaśi.  In the holy māsaṃ of puṣya, one should maintain his purity by bathing daily and keep his senses in control. He should remember God and renounce lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego, envy and hatred. Devotee should mix cow dung, cotton & sesame together and should make their 'Kande' in puṣya nakṣatraṃ. One should do havan for 108 times with these ‘Kande’. If it is mūlā nakṣatraṃ on ekādaśi then good vows should be taken. One should take bath early in morning and should worship Lord Vishnu and take the vow of ekādaśī fast. Devotee should keep awake at night by singing devotional songs and praise of Lord Hari Narayana. On the second day, he should the worship God with incense, lamp fruits etc and should offer  'naivedyaṃ’ After this, pray to God with chanting viṣṇusahasranāmaṃ and give arghyaṃ to śrīmahāviṣṇu with this ślokaṃ. After this, donate a pot filled with water (pot) to a Brahmin. It is also good to give Brahmin black, white sesame with the sesame vessel. Bath with sesame seeds and eating sesame is also good. Sesame should also be donated. Whatever the number of sesame seeds are donated, the person lives in the same number of thousand years in heaven. 

Lord śrīkṛṣṇa said, "O yudhiṣṭhira! The name of ekādaśī falling in kṛṣṇapakṣaṃ of puṣyamāsaṃ is ṣaṭtila. 
Following activities are recommended in ṣaṭtila ekādaśi: 

• Bath with Sesame seeds  

• Applying paste made from Sesame  

• Havan with  sesame  

• Tarpan with Sesame  

• Sesame meal  

• Donation of sesame seeds  

Due to above mention six types of sesame use, this is called ṣaṭtila ekādaśi. (ṣaṭ=Six, tila=Sesame) maharṣi pulastya said further to dālabhya ṛṣi, "Now I will tell you the same story of ṣaṭtila ekādaśi which Lord mahā viṣṇu told devarṣi nārada. 
Once nārada asked to Lord mahā viṣṇu, “O Lord! What is the merit of ṣaṭtila ekadaśi and what is it’s story? Kindly tell me in full detail".
Lord śrīmahā viṣṇu said, "O nāradā, I will tell you a true incident. Listen carefully. 

Once an old Brahman lady used to live in the mortal realm of Earth. She used to keep on fasting and because of this her body had became every weak. Though she was very pious and intelligent, she had never donated food or money for gods or Brahmins. I thought that the Brahman lady has purified her body with fasts, now she will definitely attain my abode. She will reach heaven certainly, but empty handed. As she has never donated food and it is difficult to get the satisfaction without donating food. Thinking of her welfare I became a beggar and went to the Brahman lady to ask for alms. Brahman lady asked, “Baba, What are you here for?” I said, “Mother I want some alms.” Hearing my request the Lady took a lump of soil and put that in my begging bowl. I returned with it. After some of time, the Brahman lady also left her mortal body and came to heaven. By donating the lump of soil, Brahman lady got a beautiful palace in heaven but his house was devoid from all the food items. She became very unhappy on this and came to me and said, “Lord, I have worshiped you with so  many fasts, but even then my house is empty from food items. What is the reason for this? You are the best bestower of fruit, but my Chandrayaan etc fasts have all seem to have gone futile.” I admonished her, “You go back to your house. When celestial ladies will come to see you. You ask them to tell you the virtue and procedure of ṣaṭtila ekādaśi. One you hear the procedure of ṣaṭtila ekādaśi, and then only open the door of your house. After hearing the edict of Lord, the Brahman lady returned to her house. When the celestial women came to meet her and asked to open the door, then she asked, “You have come to see me, then first tell me the magnificence of ṣaṭtila ekādaśi, then I will open the door. One of the celestial women replied, “I will tell you the importance of ṣaṭtila ekadaśi. ṣaṭtila ekadaśi is the remedy of all kinds of misfortunes". Then she narrated the significance and story of ṣaṭtila ekadaśi. When Brahman lady heard the greatness of ṣaṭtila ekadaśi, she opened the door. The celestial women saw that she was neither she is neither a nymph nor a demi-goddess but had ordinary human features. They found her different from all other celestial women. Then Brahman lady observed the ṣaṭtila ekadaśi fast as told her by celestial women. Due to the merits gained by ṣaṭtila ekadaśi her house became replete with food grains and she became beautiful celestial lady. Lord śrīkṛṣṇa said, “O yudhiṣṭhira! The person who fasts ṣaṭtila ekadaśi by donating grains, his poverty is removed. Therefore, people should give up all foolishness and laziness and do ṣaṭtila ekadaśi fast. It gives people health and well-being in every birth. This ekādaśi drives away misfortune, poverty and miseries of the devotee and gives liberation in the end. All sins of man are destroyed by this fast. Even a single sesame seed donated on this day gives residence in heaven for many thousand years.  

arghyamaṃtraṃ

namaste puṃḍarīkākṣa namaste viśvabhāvana 

subrahmaṇya namaste’stu mahāpuruṣapūrvaja 

gṛhāṇārghyaṃ mayā dattaṃ lakṣmyā saha jagatpate ( ityarghya maṃtraḥ )

नमस्ते पुंडरीकाक्ष नमस्ते विश्वभावन 

सुब्रह्मण्य नमस्तेऽस्तु महापुरुषपूर्वज 

गृहाणार्घ्यं मया दत्तं लक्ष्म्या सह जगत्पते ( इत्यर्घ्य मंत्रः )

నమస్తే పుండరీకాక్ష నమస్తే విశ్వభావన 

సుబ్రహ్మణ్య నమస్తేఽస్తు మహాపురుషపూర్వజ 

గృహాణార్ఘ్యం మయా దత్తం లక్ష్మ్యా సహ జగత్పతే ( ఇత్యర్ఘ్య మంత్రః )

ನಮಸ್ತೇ ಪುಂಡರೀಕಾಕ್ಷ ನಮಸ್ತೇ ವಿಶ್ವಭಾವನ 

ಸುಬ್ರಹ್ಮಣ್ಯ ನಮಸ್ತೇಽಸ್ತು ಮಹಾಪುರುಷಪೂರ್ವಜ 

ಗೃಹಾಣಾರ್ಘ್ಯಂ ಮಯಾ ದತ್ತಂ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮ್ಯಾ ಸಹ ಜಗತ್ಪತೇ ( ಇತ್ಯರ್ಘ್ಯ ಮಂತ್ರಃ )

Note:-  All ekādaśi Vishnusahasra parayana is recommend