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Shat Tilaa Ekaadashee falls on Maagh Krishn Ekaadashee. Yudhishthir asked Bhagavaan Krishn - "Which Ekaadashee is in Maagh Krishn Paksh? What is the method to observe it and what are its fruits?" Shree Bhagavaan said - "Maagh Maas Krishn Ekaadashee (According to Gujaraat calendar Paush Maas) is known as Shat Tilaa Ekaadashee, and this destroys all kinds of sins. Pulastya Jee told its fruits to Daalabhya Muni, so you also listen to it. Daalabhya Muni asked - "Hey Muni, Many people commit many sins in Kali Yug, they do not have to go to Narak, tell some remedy for such people." Pulastya Jee said - "Hey Muni, All people should live with self restraints in Maagh Maas. Remember Bhagavaan, after washing his feet collect the cow's dung, mix some Til (sesame seeds) and Kapaas (raw cotton) and make 108 balls. Then whenever in Maagh Maas Ardraa or Mool Nakshatra falls, take a vow to observe Krishn Ekaadashee. Take bath, worship Vishnu and do Hom and keep wake in the night. Worship Hari. Offer pumpkin, or Naariyal (coconut) or Bijauraa Neeboo (sour lemon of large size like an orange). If these are not available offer 108 Supaaree (betel nuts). Arghya mantra is like this --
Krishn Krishn Kripaalustwam Gateenaam Gatirbhav
Sansaaraarnav Magnaanaam Praseed Purushottam
Namaste Pundareekaaksh Namste Vishwa Bhaavan
Subrahamanya namastestu Mahaapurush Poorvaj
Grihaanaardhya Mayaa Dattam Lakshmyaa Saha Jagatpate

After offering Arghya, worship Braahman, Donate a water pitcher,  a pot full of Til, shoes, umbrella and clothes and while donating them say "By this donation, Bhagavaan Krishn should be pleased with me." If one can afford donate a black cow also. It is believed that if those Til are sown, then a person lives for as many thousand years in Swarg as many branches spring from those Til. Take bath in Til, do Ubatan (smear paste) of Til to clean his body, drink Til water, donate Til and eat Til. Since Til is used in these six ways, that is why this Ekaadashee is called Shat Tilaa Ekaadashee.>/p>

Importance of Wake (Jaagaran) in This Night
Once Vishnu Bhakt Prahlaad was sitting with ease, some Rishi came to him and asked - "Tell us some way to attain Vishnu Pad without any Gyaan (knowledge), Dhyaan (meditation) and Indrya Nigraha (control on senses)." Prahlaad Jee said - "Hey Muni, Which is the gist of the gist of 18 Puraan, and whatever Shankar Jee told to Kaarttikeya, I tell you that. Shankar Jee said - "Who recites Vaishnav Shaastra in the night of Ekaadashee of Kali Yug, his four types of sins committed in millions of lives are cleaned. And he who preaches Vaishnav Shaastra, know him as my Bhakt (devotee). Who is not disturbed by sleep in Ekaadashee night, he is my greatest Bhakt. I give him best Gyaan and Vishnu grants him Moksh. Who are the enemies of Vishnu, they are not religious. Who sees the face of Vishnu repeatedly in this night, he also gets the same fruits. Who wakes on Dwaadashee in front of Vishnu, they become free from Yam Paash. Who recites Geetaa on Dwaadashee night, he also becomes free from Yam Paash. Who have done Wake on Ekaadashee night, know that he has done everything - Daan, Dharm, Gayaa Shraaddh, Prayaag Snaan etc.

Who has done Wake in Vardhinee Ekaadashee night, he has burnt his next body himself.
Who has done Wake in Tri-Sprashaa Ekaadashee  night, he becomes one with Vishnu.
Who has done Wake in Haribodhinee Ekaadashee night (Kaarttik Shukla 11), his all, big or small, all sins are destroyed.
Who recites Stotra or Mantra from Ved etc he pleases Vishnu.
Who recites Vishnu Sahastra Naam in front of Vishnu's idol, he attains Param Dhaam of Vishnu.

Vishnu likes Bhaagvat and Skand Puraan. Who recites the description of Keshav's childhhod in the night of Ekaadashee, one cannot measure its merits. Whatever merit is attained by recitation of all these near Vishnu, it becomes thousand-fold in Kali Yug. Who lights lamp his merit does not get destroyed even in hundred Kalp. He who offers Tulasee leaf with its Manjaree (flowers), he does not come in this world again. O Kaarttikeya, whosever wants to please me, he should wake up in Ekaadashee's night. Whoever has done a Wake in Ekaadashee night with recitation of Stotra or Puraan etc, he has done everything to attain all kinds of merits.

To break the fast - Take 7 roasted Chanaa, break them in 14 pieces and throw them over your head with the concept that "my seven lives' sins are destroyed now". Then drink 7 Anjuli water (water filled in one palm) and eat 7 roasted Chanaa.

From Bhavishya-Uttar Puraan

Daalabhya Rishi said to Pulastya Muni - "When the spirit soul comes in contact with the material energy, he immediately begins to perform sinful activities, such as stealing, killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform many other terrible deeds, such as killing a Braahman. Oh purest of personalities, please tell me how these unfortunate souls may escape the punishment of being sent to hellish regions of creation. Kindly tell me how, by giving even a little in charity, one may be easily released from the reactions of his sins."

Pulastya Muni replied - "Oh fortunate one, you have asked me an important and confidential question, which not even Brahmaa, Vishnu, Shiv or Indra has ever asked. Please listen very carefully to my answer.

"With the arrival of the month of Maagh (January-February), one should bathe, carefully control his senses by giving up lust, anger, pride, jealousy, faultfinding, and greed, and meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. One should then gather up some cow dung before it touches the ground and, after mixing it with sesame seeds and cotton, form 108 balls. This should be done on the day when the constellation of Poorv-Aashaadhaa Nakshatra arrives. then one should follow the rules and regulations of Ekaadashee, which I shall now explain to you.

After bathing, the person who intends to observe Ekaadashee should worship the Supreme Lord. While praying to Krishn by chanting His holy name, he should promise to observe the Ekaadashee fast. He should remain awake overnight and perform a Hom (fire sacrifice). Then the devotee should perform an Aaratee ceremony for the pleasure of the Lord - Who holds a conch, disk, club, and so on in His hands - offering Him sandalwood paste to his feet, incense, camphor, a bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations. Next the devotee should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and cotton wool into the sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the Lord as Purush Sookt, and other names. Throughout the whole day and night he should also observe the standard Ekaadashee Vrat (fast, which in this case is a fast from all kinds of grains and beans). On this occasion one should offer the Lord - pumpkin, coconut, and guava. If these items are unavailable, betel nut may be substituted.

The devotee should pray to Janaardan, the benefactor of all living beings, in this way; 'O Krishna, You are the most merciful Personality of Godhead and the giver of liberation to all fallen souls. O Lord, we have fallen into the ocean of material existence. Please be kind to us. Oh lotus-eyed divinity, please accept our most humble, affectionate and respectful obeisance. O protector of the entire world, we offer You our humble respects again and again. Oh Supreme Spirit, Oh Supreme One, Oh source of all our forefathers, may You and Your eternal consort, Hey Lakshmee, please accept these humble offerings."

The devotee should then try to please a qualified Braahman with a warm welcome, a pot full of water (Poorn Kumbh), an umbrella, a pair of shoes, and clothes (cloth - Dhotee, and Ang Vaastra), requesting him at the same time to bestow his blessings, by which one may develop unalloyed love for Krishn. According to one's ability, one may also donate a black cow to such a Braahman, particularly to one who is very well versed in all the injunctions of the Vaidik scriptures. One should also offer him a pot full of sesame seeds.

O exalted Daalabhya Muni, black sesame seeds are especially suitable for formal worship and fire sacrifices while white or brown ones are meant to be eaten by a qualified Braahman. One who can arrange to give both kinds of sesame seeds (black and white or brown) especially on this Shat-Tilaa Ekaadashee day will be promoted to at least the heavenly planets after leaving this present body, for as many thousands of years as the number of seeds that would be produced if the seeds he donated were sown in the ground and grew into mature, seed bearing plants.

On this Ekaadashee a faithful person should
(1) bathe in the water mixed with sesame seeds,
(2) rub sesame seed paste on his body,
(3) offer sesame seeds into the fire in sacrifice,
(4) eat sesame seeds,
(5) give sesame seeds away in charity,
(6) accept charitable gifts of sesame seeds.

These are the six (Shat) ways in which sesame seeds (Til) are utilized for spiritual purification on this Ekaadashee. Therefore it is called Sat-Tilaa Ekaadashee.

The great Devarishi Naarad Muni once asked the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishn, 'O mighty armed Lord, O You who are so affectionate to Your loving devotees, please accept my most humble obeisances. Oh Yaadava, kindly tell me the result one obtains by observing Sat-tilaa Ekaadashee."

Krishn replied - "O best of the twice born Braahman, I shall narrate to you an account of an incident I personally witnessed. Long ago on earth there lived an old female Braahman woman who worshipped Me every day with controlled senses. She very faithfully observed many a fast, especially on special days honoring Me (My various appearance days Janmaasthamee, Raam Navamee, Vaaman Dwaadashee, Narasinh Chaturdashee, Varaaha Dwaadashee, Gaura Poornimaa, etc.) and served Me with full devotion, devoid of any personal motive. Her rigorous fasting made her quite weak and thin. She gave charity to Braahman and to young maidens (Kanyaa), and even planned to give away her house in charity. Oh best of the Braahman although this spiritually minded woman gave charitable donations to worthy people, the odd feature of her austerity was that she never gave food to Braahman or the Devtaa.

I began to reflect on this curious omission: "This fine woman has purified herself by fasting on all the auspicious occasions and by offering Me strict devotional worship. Therefore she certainly has become eligible to enter My personal abode, which is unattainable by ordinary persons." So I came down to this planet to examine her, disguising Myself as a follower of Shiv, complete with a garland of skulls draped around My neck and a begging pot (Kamandal) in My hand.

As I approached her, she said to Me, "Oh respectful one, tell me truthfully why You have come before me." I replied, "Oh beautiful one, I have come to get some sacred alms from you" - whereupon she angrily threw a dense lump of mud into My begging pot! O Naarad Muni I simply turned around and went back to My personal abode, astonished at this fine Braahman woman's peculiar mixture of great magnanimity and stinginess.

At last this austere lady reached the spiritual world in her self-same body, so great were her efforts at fasting and charity. And because she had indeed offered Me a lump of mud, I transformed that mud into a beautiful home. However, O Naarad, this particular house was just like that mud completely devoid of any edible grains, as well as any furniture or ornamentation, and when she entered it she found only an empty structure. She therefore approached Me and said with great anger, "I have fasted repeatedly on so many auspicious occasions, making my body weak and thin. I have worshipped You and prayed to You in so many different ways for You are truly the master and protector of all the universes. Yet despite all this there is no food or wealth to be seen in my new home, Oh Janaardan, please tell me. Why is this?"

I replied - "Please return to your house. Sometime later the wives of the Devtaa (demigods) will pay you a visit out of curiosity to see the new arrival, but do not open your door until they have described to you the glories and importance of Shat-Tilaa Ekaadashee."

Hearing this, she returned to her house. Eventually the Devtaa's wives arrived there and in unison said - "O beautiful one, we have come to have your Darshan. Oh auspicious one, please open the door to your house and let us see you. The woman replied - "O most dear ones, if you want me to open this door, you will have to describe to me the merit one obtains by observing the sacred fast of Shat-Tilaa Ekaadashee." But to this request, not even one of the wives responded.

Later, however, they returned to the house, and one of the wives nicely explained the sublime nature of this sacred Ekaadashee. And when the woman at last opened her door, they saw that she was neither a demigoddess, nor a Gandharvee, nor a she-demon, nor even a Naag's wife. She was simply an ordinary human woman.

From then on the woman observed Shat-Tilaa Ekaadashee, which awards all material enjoyment and liberation at the same time, as it has been described to her. And she finally received the beautiful furnishings and grains she had expected for her home. Moreover, her once ordinary material body was transformed into a beautiful spiritual form made of Sat Cht Aanand (eternality, knowledge, and bliss), with a fine complexion. So, by the mercy and grace of Shat-Tilaa Ekaadashee, both the woman and her new home in the spiritual world were at last radiantly splendid and lustrous with gold, silver, jewels, and diamonds.

O Naarad, a person should not ostentatiously observe Ekaadashee out of greed, with the hope of attaining wealth dishonestly. Selflessly, he should simply donate sesame seed, clothes, and food according to his capacity, for by doing so he will achieve good health and exalted spiritual consciousness, birth after birth. Ultimately, he will be given release from the bonds of this world (liberation) and admittance into the Lord's supreme abode will be his to enjoy. That is my opinion, Oh best of the demigods (Devarshi).

O Daalabhya Muni, Pulastya Rishi concluded, one who properly observes this wonderful Saat-Tilaa Ekaadashee with great faith become free from all kinds of poverty - spiritual, mental, physical, social, and intellectual - as well as all kinds of ill luck and evil omens (Shakun). Indeed, following this Ekaadashee fast by donating, sacrificing, or eating sesame seeds frees one of all past sin, without a doubt. One need not wonder how this happens. The rare soul who properly performs these acts of charity in the right devotional mood, following the Vedic injunctions, will become utterly free of all sinful reactions and go back to Godhead, back home to the spiritual world.

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Maagh Krishna Ekaadashee, or Shat-Tilaa Ekaadashee, from the sacred Bhavishya-Uttar Puraan of  Krishn Dwaipaayan.

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