Å›acÄ« kahe, — nÄ khÄiba, bhÄla-i kahilÄ
sei haite ekÄdaśī karite lÄgilÄ
Å›acÄ« kahe - mother ÅšacÄ« said; nÄ khÄiba - I shall not take; bhÄla-i kahilÄ - You have said very nicely; sei haite - from that day; ekÄdaśī - EkÄdaśī day; karite lÄgilÄ - began to observe.
Mother ÅšacÄ« said, “You have spoken very nicely. I shall not eat grains on EkÄdaśī.†From that day, she began to observe fasting on EkÄdaśī.
It is a prejudice among smÄrta-brÄhmaṇas that a widow must observe fasting on EkÄdaśī but a woman who is sa-dhava — who has her husband — should not. It appears that before Lord Caitanya’s request, ÅšacÄ«mÄtÄ, being sa-dhava, was not observing EkÄdaśī. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, however, introduced the system that a woman, even if not a widow, must observe the EkÄdaśī day and must not touch any kind of grains, even those offered to the Deity of Viṣṇu.
