🌙 Ekadashi — Dates, Parana & Vrat Katha

Parama Ekadashi is the rare Krishna-paksha Ekadashi of Purushottama (Adhik) Masa, glorified in the Skanda Purana as the topmost fast that destroys poverty, grants liberation and is most dear to Lord Hari.

Pandava Nirjala Ekadashi is the strict waterless fast of Jyeshtha Shukla, by which a devotee receives the merit of observing all twenty-four Ekadashis of the year in a single day.

Yogini Ekadashi, glorified in the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, is said to deliver one from the most stubborn sins and to bestow the merit of feeding eighty-eight thousand brahmanas.

Sayana Ekadashi (also Padma or Devshayani Ekadashi) marks the beginning of Chaturmasya, when Lord Vishnu reclines in yoga-nidra on Sesha Naga — a four-month season of intensified devotion and austerity for every Vaishnava.

Kamika Ekadashi grants every righteous desire (kama) of the devotee and is said to surpass in merit even the gifts of cows, gold and pilgrimage to Kashi, Kurukshetra and Naimisharanya.

Pavitropana Ekadashi — also called Putrada Ekadashi of Shravana — purifies one's accumulated karma through the offering of a sacred pavitra thread and is famous for bestowing virtuous offspring upon childless devotees.

Annada (also called Aja) Ekadashi is the day on which King Harishchandra recovered his lost queen, son, and kingdom — and on which any devotee who fasts is said to be freed from the gravest of sins.

On Parshva Ekadashi, Lord Vishnu — in mystic sleep since Sayana Ekadashi — turns to His other side (parivartana). It is also the day on which Lord Vamana subdued the demon-king Bali and granted him the eternal blessing of becoming His doorkeeper.

Indira Ekadashi falls during Pitri-paksha and is the rare Ekadashi whose merit, when offered to one's departed forefathers, lifts them from lower regions and grants them entry to the higher worlds.

Pashankusha (Papankusha) Ekadashi is glorified in the Brahma-vaivarta Purana as the day on which a single sincere fast wields the 'goad' (ankusha) that drives away all accumulated sins — yielding the merit of one thousand Ashvamedha yajnas.

Rama Ekadashi — named after Sri Rama, another name of Goddess Lakshmi — opens the sacred month of Kartik with the promise that even a single sincere observance can elevate the soul to Vaikuntha and uplift one's entire family.

Utthana Ekadashi — the rising Ekadashi — concludes the four-month Chaturmasya as Lord Vishnu awakens from His mystic sleep. It is the most celebrated Ekadashi of Kartik and the eve of the divine marriage of Tulasi-devi and Saligrama-shila.

Utpanna Ekadashi marks the divine appearance of Sri Ekadashi-devi from the body of Lord Vishnu to slay the demon Murasura — the cosmic origin of the Ekadashi vow itself.

Mokshada Ekadashi — the day Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna on the Kurukshetra battlefield — bestows liberation upon the soul and even upon one's departed forefathers.

Saphala Ekadashi — the 'fruitful' Ekadashi — is glorified in the Brahma-vaivarta Purana as the day on which Lord Vishnu makes every sincere endeavour of the devotee bear its full spiritual fruit.

Pausha Putrada Ekadashi is the second of the two annual Putrada Ekadashis, celebrated as the day on which Lord Vishnu fulfils the heartfelt prayers of devotees who long for noble, dharma-following children.

Shat-tila Ekadashi — the Ekadashi of six-fold sesame offerings — is glorified in the Padma Purana as the day on which a single sincere observance frees a devotee from the karmic poverty of countless lifetimes.