শচী কহে,-না খাইব, ভালই কহিলা ।
সেই হৈতে একাদশী করিতে লাগিলা ॥ ১০ ॥
saci kahe,-na khaiba, bhala-i kahila
sei haite ekadasi karite lagila
saci kahe-mother Saci said; na khaiba-I shall not take; bhala-i kahila-You have said very nicely; sei haite-from that day; ekadasi-Ekadasi day; karite lagila-began to observe.
Mother Saci said: "You have spoken very nicely. I shall not eat grains on Ekadasi." From that day, she began to observe fasting on Ekadasi.
It is a prejudice amongst smarta-brahmanas that a widow must observe fasting on Ekadasi but a woman who has her husband should not. It appears that before the request of Lord Caitanya Sacimata was not observing Ekadasi because of her being sa-dhava, which means that her husband was living. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, introduced the system that a woman, even if not a widow, must observe the Ekadasi day and must not touch any kind of grains, even those offered to the Deity of Visnu.