Ekadashi: the eleventh day

Ekadashi is the eleventh lunar day of each fortnight, so it comes twice a month: 24 times in a normal year and 26 in a year with an extra (adhika) month. It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

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The fast and parana

On Ekadashi many people avoid grains and beans, or fast completely. The fast is broken the next day, called parana, after sunrise and within Dwadashi, the twelfth lunar day. The first quarter of Dwadashi (Hari Vasara) is avoided for parana.

Why the date can differ

Smarta families fast on the day when Ekadashi is current at sunrise. When the following Dwadashi would end before the next sunrise, leaving no Dwadashi for parana, the fast moves to the day before. Vaishnava traditions avoid an Ekadashi touched by Dashami before dawn, so they sometimes fast a day later; calendars list that day as the Gauna Ekadashi.

Ekadashis to know

  1. Nirjala Ekadashi Jyeshtha, bright half: the strictest fast, traditionally without water.
  2. Devshayani Ekadashi Ashadha, bright half: Vishnu’s rest begins and Chaturmas opens.
  3. Dev Uthani Ekadashi Kartika, bright half: Vishnu wakes, Chaturmas ends and weddings resume.
  4. Mokshada Ekadashi Margashirsha, bright half: also Gita Jayanti, the day the Bhagavad Gita was spoken.