Yesterday was Nirjala Ekadashi, a major fasting day for many Hindus, so I thought it would be fitting to write about it. Ekadashi, meaning “eleventh” in Sanskrit, refers to the eleventh day of the lunar cycle and occurs twice a month. People observing the Ekadashi fast are generally supposed to abstain from grains, beans, and cereals on this day. The fast is then broken on the morning of the following day. Nirjala Ekadashi is one of the 24 Ekadashis in the year and is special because, on this day, many devotees abstain fully from all food and drink (nirjala means “without water” in Sanskrit). It is one of the most difficult vratas (fasts).
The significance of Ekadashi has been described in scriptures such as the Srimad Bhagavatam (chapter 9), in which King Ambarisha, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, observes the Ekadashi vratas for a year and obtains His grace. There is also a passage in the Mahabharata, in which Bhima asks Sage Vyasa about the significance of Ekadashi fasting. Bhima desires to both eat and fast, so he asks Vyasa whether there is one Ekadashi which includes all the others. Vyasa replies that by observing the full fast on Nirjala Ekadashi, one can reap the benefits of all other Ekadashis.
But what are the true benefits of Ekadashi? Is it truly the physical discipline that the fast entails, or is there another component to it? To me, Ekadashi is much more than simply a fast; it is a means of undergoing discipline and concentrating one’s thoughts on devotion to the Lord. True, fasting does offer many physical benefits; it is a means of detoxification and providing rest to the digestive system. However, I personally feel that whatever benefit the Ekadashi fast offers is incomplete if one simply fasts without spiritual purpose, i.e. without remembering the Lord or engaging in spiritual activities such as meditation.
Swami Krishnananda explains the spiritual significance of Ekadashi:
Fast and meditation! What connection have they? There is really no intrinsic connection between fast and meditation, but there is some advantage in keeping the body light and the stomach free from excessive metabolic function. When the stomach is given the duty of digestion, doctors will tell you, the blood circulation is accelerated towards the digestive organs, on account of which blood circulation to the head gets decreased after food is taken and so you feel sleepy and the thinking faculty practically ceases to function. Hence, there is no advantage in giving the physical system work on days you want to do Yogic practice. Thus, Ekadasi has also a spiritual significance.
The energy of the whole system gets distributed equally if a particular limb is not given any inordinate work. If any part is given heavy work, there is a dislocation of the working of the body. So, in fasting the energy is equally distributed as the digestive function is not there. But, there should be no overdoing in fast. Fast is supposed to cause buoyancy of feeling and not fatigue. So people who are sick and cannot observe a total fast take milk and fruits, etc. People who are perfectly healthy and are confident, observe a complete fast. This helps in control of mind and will.
Apart from all these, there is a necessity to give the physiological system some rest once a while. It may be over-worked due to a little over-eating or indiscrimination in diet. These irregularities unconsciously done during the fourteen days get rectified in one day. Thus the observance of Ekadasi has many advantages—physical, astral, spiritual—and because this day has connection with the relation of the mind with its abode together with the moon, you feel mysteriously helped in your meditation and contemplation,—mysteriously because you cannot know this consciously. But you can feel this for yourself by observing it.
What are your thoughts on the benefits of Ekadashi or fasting in general?
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Ameya, reading your post reminded me of a quote in Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha:
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