Shloka : 79

एकादशीनां सर्वासां कर्तव्यं व्रतमादरात् ।

कृष्णजन्मदिनानां च शिवरात्रेश्च सोत्सवम् ॥ 79 ॥

અને સવેર્ જે એકાદશીઓ તેમનું વ્રત જે તે આદરથકી કરવું; તથા શ્રીકૃષ્ણભગવાનના જે જન્માષ્ટમી આદિક જન્મદિવસ તેમનું વ્રત જે તે આદરથકી કરવું; તથા શિવરાત્રિનું વ્રત જે તે આદરથકી કરવું; અને તે વ્રતના દિવસને વિષે મોટા ઉત્સવ કરવા. ॥ 79 ॥

And fast should be observed with due respect on all the 'Ekadashi' i.e. eleventh day of moon’s cycle, on 'Janmashtami' - birthday of Shri Krishna Bhagwan and on 'Shivratri'. These festival days should be celebrated with special ceremonies. || 79 ||

Commentary

Fasting on 'Ekadashi' is considered more important than any other fasting, because this fast is observed to worship and for the blessings of Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan and it pleases him. Therefore, all the devotees of Shri Hari should make an effort to observe fast on this day. All the sins, equivalent to killing a Brahmin, are hidden in food on the day of 'Ekadashi'. Therefore, whoever eats food on that day accumulates all these sins. From the age of eight years to eighty years, all the devotees should observe fast on both the 'Ekadashis' of the month.

On the day of 'Ekadashi' not only food should be given up, but one should also abstain from the pleasures of all the eleven senses. The real characteristic of the fasting on 'Ekadashi' is to abstain from the pleasures of all the senses and contemplate Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan in one’s heart all the time.

Besides, the word 'Upvaas' has been explained by Shri Hari like this: 'Up' means a person who has retired from committing sins and 'vaas' means to reside in the divine, liberating virtues of God. Such a state of being is called ‘Upvaas’ i.e. fasting without any sensual pleasures. On the day of fasting, one should recite the name of one’s worshipping God Shri Hari and contemplate Shri Hari in one’s heart, listen to His narratives and worship Him.

Frequent intake of water, chewing of beetle leaf or beetle nut, copulation, sleep during the day, observing, touching or talking to other women or the physical contact of one’s own wife can break the fast of 'Ekadashi'. Also, one should avoid anger on that day. Because all the holy deeds like recitation, charity, fasting, vow, meditation, study, sacrifice etc. performed through a lot of efforts diminish due to anger.

A person, who cannot remain without food, can have fruits. But 'Devshayani' i.e. eleventh day of first half of the month 'Ashadh', 'Prabodhani' i.e. eleventh day of the first half of the month 'Kartik' and 'Jalzilani' i.e. eleventh day of the first half of the month of 'Bhadarva'; on these three 'Ekadashis' one should observe complete fast without taking any food.

The devotees of various incarnations observe fast on the days of 'Janmashtami', 'Shivratri' etc. which are either the festival days or the birthdays of the indirect incarnations of Shri Hari.

Similarly, the devotees of incarnate of incarnations Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan should observe fast on the ninth day of the first half of the month of Chaitra (which is the birthday of Shri Hari i.e. when He appeared in human form on this Earth). This day is called Hari Jayanti. On Hari Jayanti a special wor­ship of Shri Hari Krishna Bhagwan should be performed and the devotees should stay awake till late night. And on this day, evenif, a woman in the house has recently gone through child birth or is going through menstrual cycle, she must observe the fast, but the worship of God should be performed by some other devotee.