The history of the celebration of Padma (Sayana) Ekadashi was described by Brahma to his son Narada Muni. Briefly presenting the essence of the narrative, which tells how the observance of fasting in Padma Ekadashi once saved an entire state from drought, you need to pay attention to several important details.
Firstly, it is clear from the description that the country was ruled by a holy king named Mandhata: «As he always stood for the truth, he was the ruler. He cared for his subjects as his children. Thanks to his piety and great piety, there were no epidemics, drought or any diseases in the kingdom. All subjects were not only free from worries, but also very rich. In the king's own treasury there was no money obtained dishonestly».
Secondly, when for some reason there was a drought in his kingdom for three years, due to the impossibility of performing Vedic sacrifices, offering offerings to ancestors and demigods, performing ritual worship and even studying the Vedas, the subjects all came to their beloved king and began humbly asking him for help.
Thirdly, after listening to his subjects, the king suggested his own guilt: «If the king is godless, then both he and his subjects suffer», — and went for help to the saints living in solitude. According to the saints, the cause of state problems was that one ignorant person, instead of fulfilling the duty prescribed to him, illegally performed the ritual of asceticism and penance.
What truths can this ancient history of modern man teach? Here you can see order in the organization of society, trust in each other, and the need for improvement. One can understand that from the point of view of the essence of things, little has changed in society, but truthfulness, purity, mercy and asceticism can be observed less and less in our lives.
A person’s consciousness, oddly enough, is higher, the more aware he is of his imperfection. All reasonable people understand the need for improvement, but the smaller their minds, the further they are from understanding the need to improve themselves. It can be noted that today a person strives to improve his loved ones, his subordinates and even the distant and older — of everyone, but not himself. Such a person becomes a family man, a boss, and even a king, but, unfortunately, all his efforts will not bring such an effect as if he started with himself.
An imperfect personality must obey a more perfect personality: such obedience will allow you to simultaneously understand your situation and at the same time not make serious mistakes in your life. Vedic philosophy teaches that a person — is one who is able to hear what comes from God. This does not mean at all that a person does not listen and does not listen to anyone except God: a person strives to improve in obedience and reverence to his father and mother, teachers, no matter what science they teach, older in age, in position, in depth of life realization (experience), towards them others.
Man — is an ideal citizen who is an example for everyone in his law-abiding behavior: no matter what country a monk ends up in, he will perfectly follow all the laws adopted in it. A person is able to hear the most important thing: never teach or instruct anyone, since the most important thing he heard was addressed to him.
A person listens, but what he hears settles inside his heart, and does not fly out of the other ear or out of his mouth in retelling stories for others. A person saves himself, and does not save others, without being saved himself. When a person sees that something is wrong, he is looking for a problem within himself, and not in others. When a person hears about the need for change, he understands that he needs to change himself, since only then will his loved ones change, only then will the whole world change.