Can we eat buckwheat on ekādaśī? What about quinoa, sesame seeds, and peanuts? What is the proper way to follow ekādaśī?
What is the difference between a "seed" and a "grain", first of all? What about beans? Why can't we eat beans if they are also not grains? Are we missing something?
Can we eat buckwheat on ekādaśī? Many devotees say so, arguing that buckwheat is not a grain, but a seed. What about quinoa? It's also considered a seed by many. Can we eat sesame seeds on Ekādaśī? Most will say no, because sesame seeds are a "grain", although they are technically also seeds. What about chocolate or coffee? Both are also made from seeds, so maybe they are also ok on ekādaśīs? By the way, what is the difference between a "seed" and a "grain", first of all? What about beans? Why can't we beans if they are also not grains?
Nowadays, we spend quite a lot of time discussing what we can or can't eat on ekādaśī, and even more time cooking ekādaśī prasāda. In this way, we are actually missing the essence of ekādaśī, that is, to simplify our eating with the purpose of having more time for spiritual practice. Ekādaśī is not just a day when sin enters the grains; it is the day of the Lord, which should be dedicated to spiritual practice.
If we do research, we will see that a very high percentage of devotees don't have time to properly chant their rounds and to read, which are two essential parts of spiritual life. Often, they also don't have time to go to the temple and attend programs. Frequently, this is not really their fault, since modern life can be quite difficult, especially when one has a family.
To live, we need to eat, and eating is quite a time-demanding process. Eating costs a lot of money, and the prices of food are always increasing. To get money, we need to work hard, and this takes a lot of our time. Even if we have money, food doesn't appear by magic in our refrigerators: we have to go to the market to buy it. In fact, we frequently have to go to several different places to get the best prices. This obviously also takes time.
We also need to cook, which also takes a lot of time, and then we need to eat, which again takes time. After eating, we need a pause to digest the food properly, maybe take a nap, and on the next day, we also need to go to the toilet. This all takes time.
In a family, the husband may spend more time working to get money and buy food, while the wife may spend more time cooking, etc., but in the end, everyone has to spend time on it. If we make a calculation, that's quite a lot of time.
The idea of ekādaśī is to reduce the time we spend in these activities connected to eating, and thus free time for spiritual practice. The ones who can are advised thus to fast completely (which simplifies a lot of things), and the ones who can't due to different health conditions or circumstances are advised to take only anukalpa prasāda.
Anukalpa means simple and light food that one takes to maintain their body. When we see Prabhupada speaking about it, he usually mentions things like milk, fruits, and vegetables. These are foods that we can eat without much preparation and that thus don't take much of our time. They are also very light, and thus it is considered that they don't really break a fast (as long as consumed in moderation).
Fasting also helps to reduce the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance, which is obviously beneficial for us. It also brings a lot of health benefits that are also helpful. And these are just secondary benefits of fasting on ekādaśī. The main benefit is the spiritual advancement we derive from it.
In chapter 20 of Jaiva Dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thākura mentions how to properly follow the ekādaśī vrata:
"One should observe celibacy on the previous day, and then spend the day of hari-vasara fasting without taking water. One should stay awake the whole night, incessantly engaged in bhajana, and on the next day one should observe celibacy and break the fast at the proper time. This is proper observance of hari-vasara. It is not possible to observe nirjala fasting (i.e. fasting without drinking water) without giving up maha-prasada. If one does not have the ability or strength to observe hari-vasara properly, there is a provision for alternative arrangements (anukalpa)."
Of course, this is too difficult for many of us; that's probably why Srila Prabhupada was not insisting on devotees fasting completely and staying awake on ekādaśī, although he was encouraging the ones who were determined enough to try. In a pandal lecture (April 7, 1971, Bombay), he mentioned:
"Just like ekādaśī day—there is no eating sumptuously. Simply you take little fruits and flowers. Try to avoid that also. You don't take even water. That is really ekādaśī. But because we cannot do it—in the Kali-yuga the time is different—therefore we are allowed to take little fruits and milk, which is called anukalpa."
In Teachings of Lord Caitanya (ch. 12), Prabhupada mentions:
"(9) observe fasting on ekādaśī day (this occurs on the eleventh day after the full moon and the eleventh day after the new moon. On such days, no grains, cereals or beans are eaten; simply vegetables and milk are moderately taken, and the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and reading of scriptures are increased.)"
In the Jaiva Dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thākura also offers a list of foods that can be taken as anukalpa prasāda, or, in other words, that don't break one's ekādaśī:
"The following eight items do not destroy one’s vrata (vow): water, roots, fruits, milk, ghee, the desire of a brāhmana, the words of the guru, and herbs and medicines.”
By these references, we can see that our ācāryas recommend only fruits, milk, and vegetables in moderate quantities. In some passages, Prabhupada also mentions nuts; therefore, we can understand that they are also acceptable in small quantities. One may also take herbs and medicines if necessary, but there is no talk about either seeds or cereals.
Fasting on ekādaśīs, or restricting oneself to eating small quantities of anukalpa prasād, not only frees us a lot of time to chant, read, and perform other spiritual activities, but also brings us other benefits that extend to all the other days. If we fast two times per month, we will not only spend about 7% less on food (which can be quite a lot) but will also free up a lot of time we can use for spiritual activities. If everyone in the world fasted on ekādaśī, all the food saved could be used to save the millions of people who die annually due to starvation.
We can see that the original spiritual significance of ekādaśī is mostly lost nowadays. Instead of saving time and using it to increase our spiritual practice, we end up spending even more time carefully selecting the foods that are "not grains", going around to buy them, and then cooking a special menu. Instead of freeing up time from eating, we actually increase it. In this way, our ekādaśī becomes a mundane pursuit that is spiritually void.
We can still bring back the original spirit. It's not yet completely lost. When we go back to it, we don't even need to spend time discussing the differences between seeds and grains.
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