Who is Ekadasi? V

    

    So, paravare brahmani dharmato vrataih. So one should execute Krsna consciousness, dharmato, in right path, and vrataih. Bhajante mam drdha-vratah. Just like today,# ekadasi-vrata. Vrataih. This ekadasi-vrata is required. Just see. Here it is that You have performed all the vratas.’ The purpose of ekadasi-vrata is that today we should not eat much usual food, grains. The actual prescription is fasting. Nirjala ekadasi. Nirjala means there are many devotees who does not take even water. Water, drinking water, according to sastra, it is taking food… It is drinking of food or no food. We can take both ways. So sometimes drinking of water is excused as upavasa also. But there are many devotees who even…, drink even a drop of water. Whole day and night they fast and observed ekadasi-vrata. And the night is called harivasa. Harivasa means the whole night they would chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama… This is called vrata. Drdha-vrata. Drdha-vrata.Drdha means very firm, steady. Krsna is so kind that He has given us so many concession. But we should be… Because there are some concession, better we should not take advantage of the concession, but we should be very steady and strong in our conviction and perform devotional service strictly.