When the Lord wakes

Episode 4 of 4 in Kartik kathas: stories for the month of lamps.

Narrated with an AI voice.

Reading time
2 min
Listening time
2 min
By
DharmikStudio Originals
Narration
AI voice

In this episode

  • Vishnu rests from Devshayani to Prabodhini Ekadashi: the Chaturmas.
  • The Vaishnava fast is on Saturday 21 November this year.
  • In the folk katha, simple love brings the Lord to the riverbank.

Read along

Namaste. This is Kartik kathas. Tonight, the waking of the Lord.

On Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha, Vishnu is said to rest in yoga nidra on the serpent Shesha, in the ocean of milk. Four months pass, the Chaturmas, and families wait to begin weddings and new homes. On Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartik he wakes. The DharmikVibes calendar gives Saturday 21 November for the Vaishnava fast; Smarta households, please check your own panchang.

The Padma Purana has Brahma tell the sage Narada about this night: stay awake with songs and stories of the Lord, offer flowers, fruit and lamps, and rejoice when he wakes.

**

And now a story that is not from a Purana. It is a folk katha, told in North Indian homes.

In a kingdom where no one ate on Ekadashi, a working man was given fruit instead of a meal. He asked the king for flour, went to the river, cooked, and called with an open heart: come, Lord, the food is ready. And the Lord came, and ate with him.

Next time the man asked for twice the flour. The Lord ate with me, he said, and I went hungry. The king hid behind a tree to see. This time the man called and called, with growing longing, and would not eat until the Lord came. At last the Lord came, sat with him, and took him into his care.

The king understood. A lifetime of rules had not brought the Lord to the riverbank. One man's simple love had.

**

On the evening of Dev Uthani, many homes draw the Lord's feet in rice paste, set up a little canopy of sugarcane, and ring a bell or tap a plate to wake him with song. If you keep the fast, keep it within your strength, and speak to your doctor first if you are unwell or on medicine. Namaste.

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