On Ekadasi, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakur Prabhupada would fast until around four o´clock in the afternoon and then take a little fruit, and at night just a glass of milk. Although some disciples were inclined to observe Ekadasi strictly, by total abstinence from both food and drink or by taking only water, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur emphasized that doing the needful for preaching was more important than such rigid fasting. On one Ekadasi most devotees remained at the Matha to observe fasting, but Sripada Asrama Maharaja took anukalpa-prasada and went out to preach. Srila Sarasvati Thakura commented, “He has understood the principle of the Gaudiya Matha”. On another Ekadasi, Hayagriva Brahmacari was supposed to attend a speaking engagement, yet because he was feeling unwell, he opted to skip the program and join the other Matha devotees in observing full fasting. When Srila Sarasvati Thakura was informed of this he said, “Let him immediately eat and go.” One year, just prior to Janmastami, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakur decided that he would visit Mathura shortly thereafter. He selected Hayagriva Brahmacari to go on Janmastami day to rent a suitable house and make other arrangements. Considering the long and strenuous journey his disciple would have to undergo, he asked his own cook to feed Hayagriva Prabhu a meal including rice, even though Janmastami is to be observed strictly, by full fasting. But both the cook and Hayagriva Prabhu hesitated. Hayagriva Prabhu was prepared to travel even though fasting, yet to honor his guru-maharaja’s order he took anukalpa-prasada instead of rice. Initiated devotees followed the scriptural rule that if Ekadasi fasting was not broken within the specified time on Dvadasi, then the transgressor should continue fasting throughout that day.
Srila Sarasvati Thakura once chastised a sannyasi disciple for taking a rasagulla on Ekadasi, as rasagullas are made with a slight admixture of flour. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur opposed the smarta misconception prominent in Bengal that among women only widows should observe Ekadasi fasting, and that for married women to do so would cause inauspiciousness for their husbands. And he rebutted the idea that in Puri it is acceptable to take the maha-prasada grains of Lord Jagannatha on Ekadasi.
(An excerpt taken from the book “Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Vaibhva Vol1)