Devotees throng to have darsan of Lord early in the morning at every temple across the world on Vaikunta Ekadasi. It is in fact said that one can arrange a north entrance for the puja mandir of the deity at one’s own home and walk through the entrance along with the deity to reap the same benefit. If so, why do devotees still visit a temple on Vaikunta Ekadasi?
We visit a temple to praise the lord, along with other devotees, for being extremely kind in granting the greatest of the wishes, moksham (liberation from karmic bondage and attainment of an eternal state of bliss in Sri Vaikuntam). This is granted to even the most arrogant of demons. It is out of the sheer joy of celebrating the divine quality of Lord, compassion towards the asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha.
The asuras had a boxing match with Srimannarayana and experienced the thejas, the glory of God as they held Him through the fight. The divine touch of God released them from arrogance, ahamkara. Unless and until one remains constantly connected to God and His qualities, arrogance will continue to affect that person. Therefore, at the rakshasas’ request and with God’s divine mercy, Madhu and Kaitabha were granted permanent stay in Sri Vaikuntam. There was a problem however. How could they stay without going through the normal course of screening at the East entrance? There are many checks, qualifications, immigration clearances 😉 and a standard procedure for this abode. Lord had a plan to bypass all of this and sneak them through over the North wall!
Lord Simannarayana therefore opened the Uttara Dwa:ra (northern side door) of Sri Vaikuntam and let the two demons enter Sri Vaikuntam, essentially letting them “sneak in”. Witnessing the glory of Sri Vaikuntam, they were mesmerized. and realized the sheer kindness and compassion of of Srimannarayana.
They then wanted to share their story with the entire universe. If two rakshasas who actually physically fought with Lord and caused pain to God’s devotee, Sri Bramha, were then liberated by God – then clearly anyone is eligible of this divine mercy. They asked God for a special boon: anyone who celebrates their story in the way it had occurred should also be granted the same mercy they received. The boon was granted and thus we all devote ourselves at the northern entrance of the temple seeking the abode of God on this day!
The 47th chapter in Sri Prasna Samhitha elaborates the conversation between Lakshmi Devi and Srimannarayana about the history and importance of the Northern entrance to Sri Vaikuntam.
– From the discourse of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– January 6th 2020, Guntur, AP
– Vaikunta Ekadasi
