Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/75

Rh for doing so. When they do not themselves eat on the Ekadasi day, the manes of their forefathers have no claim to be fed by ceremonies and so the right to perform these ceremonies rises only on the day succeeding the fasting day. The observance of the Ekadasi day is not solely based upon puranic belief. There are several Upanishads, which are regarded to be equal in sacredness to the Vedas and which also attribute the greatest sanctity to the observance of the Ekadasi fast.

All this is about Ekadasi in general. And it must once for all be said that an orthodox Hindu looks upon all the Ekadasis at all times of the year as the same, as far as their sanctity is concerned. He does not attribute more sacredness to one and less to another. But by the Vaishnavas, the Mukkoti or Vaikuntha Ekadasi is considered the most holy of all the Ekadasis. No direct authority for this belief so far as we know exists anywhere in the sacred writings of the Hindus. The Puranas and the Upanishads speak of the sacredness of Ekadasi in general and on this head all are agreed. But what is the reason for attributing special sanctity to the