History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.357
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.357
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v6.c81.357.1
If one were to examine the numerous passages of the Purāṇas and the like one would notice that some simply prohibit the partaking of food (on Ekādaśī), while others lay down the observance of Ekādaśīvrata. A few specimens of the first kind may be cited. The Nāradīya states²³⁶ "all sins whatever and sins equal to brāhmaṇa-murder take resort to food on the day of Hari; one who partakes of food on Ekādaśī incurs those sins; the Purāṇas again and again loudly proclaim 'one should not eat food, one should not eat food, when the day of Hari comes'." In this case the observance of Ekādaśī consists in simply not eating for the whole day anything that is cooked Those passages which contain the word *vrata* are not to be looked upon as merely prohibiting (the eating of food) but are to be construed as prescribing something positive as in the case of Prajāpativrata 'one should not see the rising sun', which is interpreted by Jaimini IV. 1. 3–6 and VI 2 20 Vide n 42 above.
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For example, it is said by the Matsya and Bhaviṣya ‘When a man fasts on the 11th and partakes of food on the 12th, whether in the bright or dark half, that is a great vrata in honour of Viṣṇu’ Those passages that contain the word ‘upavāsa’ and those that prescribe rewards (of observing ekādaśī) must be construed as laying down the observance of a vrata and not as merely prohibiting anything Those passages also which condemn eating food on ekādaśī may be construed as merely intended to commend the vrata and not to contain a prohibition, following the Mīmāṁsā²³⁷ maxim ‘condemnation is not indulged in (merely) for the sake of condemnation of that which is condemned, but for the purpose of commending the performance of the opposite of what is censured’ The passages that lay down a vrata are again two-fold, viz those that make the observance of Ekādaśī obligatory (*nitya*)²³⁸ and those that lay down the observance for securing some desired object (*kāmya*) Nārada lays down an obligatory rule ‘men who are devoted to Viṣṇu and who look upon Viṣṇu as their highest goal should always fast on ekādaśī in each *pakṣa* (fortnight)’ A passage laying down a kāmya-vidhi about Ekādaśī is contained in²³⁹ Kātyāyana ‘a person who looks on Viṣṇu as highest goal and who desires to cross the ocean of saṁsāra or to secure prosperity, offspring, heaven, *mokṣa* or whatever else, should not partake of food on ekādaśī in both fortnights’ The result is that ekādaśī is both nitya and kāmya and the maxim of saṁyoga-pṛthaktva cited above (p.
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86) under Rāmanavamī applies Ekādaśīvrata on the ekādaśīs of both fortnights is *nitya* only for persons other than householders, the vrata is obligatory for householders (gṛhastha) only on the ekādaśī of the bright half, but not on the ekādaśī of the dark half, since Devala says ‘one should not eat (cooked) food on ekādaśī in both pakṣas (fortnights); this is the rule of conduct for forest hermits and ascetics, but a householder should always observe only the Ekādaśī of the bright half'.²⁴⁰ There are conflicting texts on this subject. The Padma says²⁴¹ 'a householder should observe a fast on only the dark ekādaśīs between Śayanī (Āṣāḍha śu. 11) and Bodhinī (Kārtika śu 11) and on no other ekādaśī of the dark half'. There is a precept of Nārada²⁴² 'a householder having a son should not observe a fast on a Saṅkrānti day, on the day of ekādaśī in the dark half and on eclipses of the sun and the moon'.
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The best construction of these passages appears to be that a fast only on the ekādaśī of the bright half is obligatory for a householder, but he may observe (Kāmyavrata) a fast on the ekādaśīs occurring in the dark half between Śayanī and Bodhinī, but if he has a son he should not observe a fast even on those ekādaśīs that occur between Śayanī and Bodhinī A widow²⁴³ is to be treated on the same level as a *yati* and a woman whose husband is living should fast only on the ekādaśī of the bright half It has to be further noted that these restrictions²⁴⁴ do not apply to professed devotees of Viṣṇu (technically called Vaiṣṇava) To them the verse quoted in note 238 above applies and they have to observe a fast on all ekādaśīs. Hemādri (on vrata vol. I p. 999) held the view that all persons have *adhikāra* for fasting on ekādaśīs in both pakṣas.