देवशयनी एकादशी (१३ जुलाई) से लेकर कार्तिक शुक्ल एकादशी पर्यन्त धर्मपरायण तपस्वी लोग चातुर्मास्य व्रतादि नियमों का पालन करेंगे । श्रावण, भाद्रपद, आश्विन और कार्तिकमासमें जलशायी जगदीश्वर भगवान्‌ का पूजन करे तथा नमकरहित अन्न भोजन करे। व्रत समाप्त होनेपर श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मणको भक्तिपूर्वक दान दे। जौ, धान्य, शय्या, वस्त्र तथा सुवर्ण दक्षिणामें दे । जो मनुष्य एकाग्रचित हो इस प्रकार भलीभांति व्रतका पालन करता है, उसके ऊपर जगद्‍गुरु भगवान्‌ विष्णु बहुत प्रशन्न होते हैं।….

निर्जला एकादशी का व्रत आयु, आरोग्यवृद्धि एवं पुण्य लाभ की दृष्टि से विशेष माना गया है।व्यासजी के अनुसार अगर एक वर्ष की पच्चीस एकादशी न की जा सके तो केवल निर्जला एकादशी का व्रत करने से ही पुण्य लाभ हो जाता है। Without drinking even water, one should fast on the Ekadasi that occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha….

There was a beautiful mountain named Trikuta. The waves of the ocean lapped at the foot of Trikuta. There were thick forests on the mountain. And in the forests there lived a king of elephants named Gajendra. He ruled over all the other elephants in the herd.

One day Gajendra was playing with his family & friends, the other elephants in a lake in the forest. Suddenly, a crocodile that lived in the pond caught Gajendra by his leg. Gajendra, in spite of being an elephant could not break free. He then, called out for help. All his friends, the other elephants gathered around him and tried to help, but in vain. The crocodile was stronger than all the elephants put together. They gave up. Gajendra tried for a long time to escape from the crocodile. He trumpeted until he was hoarse. The crocodile simply would not let go.

The elephant and the crocodile struggled for a thousand years. When a thousand years over, the elephant began to tire, although the crocodile’s strength was still undiminished. Gajendra lost a lot of blood and he became very weak. He finally realized that only God could help him and called out to Lord Narayana.

शुक्लांबरधरं विष्णुं शशि वर्णं चतुर्भुजं ।
प्रसन्न वदनं ध्यायेत सर्व विघ्नोपशान्तये ॥

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18 May 2008

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Tulasi Vivah on Thursday 2nd November 2006

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