निर्जला एकादशी व्रत कथा

The story of Nirjala Ekadashi comes in the Uttara Khanda of the Padma Purana as a conversation between the sage Vyasa and Bhimasena, and belongs to the Mahabharata tradition. In the house of the Pandavas the Ekadashi fast was kept as a rule. Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, their mother Kunti and Draupadi all gave up grain twice a month, on the Ekadashi of the bright and of the dark fortnight, worshipped Vishnu and stayed awake in the night. Every Ekadashi the house was in the mood of a fast, and the food was arranged accordingly.

But for Bhimasena this rule was hard. Tradition says that in his belly burned a fire called Vrika, which was never quiet; hunger did not leave him for a single meal, and without food both his body and his mind grew restless. Every Ekadashi, when the whole family fasted, Bhima ate. It pricked him: to be unable to keep Hari's fast like his brothers, and to hear that whoever eats grain on Ekadashi shares in sin. But before his hunger he had no power.

One day Bhima went to his grandfather, the sage Vyasa, folded his hands and spoke his mind. 'Grandfather, my brothers, my mother and Draupadi keep the fast on every Ekadashi and ask me to keep it too. But the fire in my belly cannot bear even one day without food. I can give in charity, I can do the puja, but I cannot stay hungry. Is there some way by which I can gain the whole fruit of Ekadashi without fasting through the year, and be saved from hell?' Bhima's question was simple and just as honest: he was not making an excuse, he was naming his limit.

Vyasa smiled. He said, 'Bhima, if heaven and liberation are dear to you, grain should not be eaten on the Ekadashi of either fortnight; that is the rule. But I will show you one path. Keep the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha, when the Sun stands in Taurus or Gemini, without water. From the sunrise of Ekadashi to the sunrise of Dwadashi take neither food nor water, only the water of achamana and of rinsing the mouth, which does not break the vow. Bathe that day, worship Vishnu and stay awake in the night. On Dwadashi, after sunrise, bathe, give water and grain to brahmins, feed the hungry, and then eat yourself.'

'By this one fast,' Vyasa said, 'the fruit of all the Ekadashis of the year is gained. For one who gives up water on this day, that giving up of water is itself the greatest austerity; they gain the merit of the twenty-four Ekadashis of the year, the fruit of many gifts and pilgrimages, and at the end Vishnu's abode. One who cannot keep a single Ekadashi through the year may keep this one, and their vow will be counted complete.' In the tradition this promise became the mark of Nirjala Ekadashi: one fast, the fruit of twenty-four.

Bhima accepted the vow. In the burning sun of Jyeshtha, when thirst troubles one most, that mighty man took neither food nor a drop of water for a whole day and night. Some tellings say that by the next morning thirst had tried him sorely, but the vow did not break; at the sunrise of Dwadashi, with the bath, the gifts and the paran, his fast was complete. The one whom hunger would not leave for a single meal kept the hardest Ekadashi of the year, and so this Ekadashi is called Bhimseni Ekadashi, Bhima Ekadashi or Pandava Ekadashi.

The heart of this story lies in two things. First, that on the Lord's path admitting one's limit is not an excuse: Bhima did not hide his weakness, he took it to his teacher, and the teacher found a way for him. Second, that one day of complete restraint can be greater than a year of half-kept restraint. That is why Nirjala Ekadashi is held to be the Ekadashi of those who cannot keep every Ekadashi through the year, but wish to keep one day wholly for Hari.

The vrat begins on the evening of Dashami. On Dashami eat one light sattvic meal before sunset, without rice, masur, chana, onion, garlic or honey; do not eat at night and keep celibacy. Given the heat of Jyeshtha, it is good to take enough water, buttermilk and fruit through the day on Dashami, so that the body is ready for the next day. Pluck the tulsi leaves for Ekadashi on Dashami itself and keep them, since tulsi is not plucked on Ekadashi.

On Ekadashi rise before sunrise, bathe and wear clean or yellow clothes. Before Vishnu take water, akshat and a flower in your hand and make the sankalpa: that today you keep the Nirjala Ekadashi fast for the pleasure of the Lord; if you are keeping it with water, say so in the sankalpa itself, since honesty in the vow is the first part of the fast. Then do the puja: bathe the image of Vishnu or of Laddu Gopal with panchamrit and clean water, offer yellow cloth, sandal, akshat, yellow flowers and the tulsi leaves plucked on Dashami, light a ghee lamp and incense, and offer fruit and mishri.

The traditional rule is that from the sunrise of Ekadashi to the sunrise of Dwadashi neither food nor water is taken. The little water taken into the mouth for achamana, which the tradition measures at no more than a few drops, does not break the vow; more water than that falls outside the nirjala rule. Through the day chant 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya', read the Vishnu Sahasranama or the Vishnu Chalisa, read or hear this katha, and keep away from anger, lies, gossip and sleeping in the day. Stay out of the sun, keep to the shade and do not strain the body; this is a vow of restraint, not of display.

The waterless fast is a hard vow, and it should be taken only in honesty with one's own body. The ill, pregnant and nursing women, the elderly, children, anyone on medicines, anyone with diabetes, blood pressure or a kidney problem, and those who work outdoors in strong heat should not keep the fast without water. They keep the vrat in spirit with water, fruit, milk or coconut water; the tradition itself accepts 'jalahar' and 'phalahar' in place of nirjala, and the heart of Bhima's story is that admitting one's limit is not an excuse. A doctor's advice comes first, and if dizziness, weakness or unease comes during the fast, take water without hesitation; the tradition says the Lord sees the feeling, not the rule. The heat of Jyeshtha is not the same every year; decide by that day's weather.

In the evening light the lamp again, do the aarti and hear the katha with the family. The night of Ekadashi is a night of vigil, with bhajans, kirtan, the Vishnu Sahasranama or the reading of this katha. Those who cannot stay awake the whole night keep awake as long as they can and bow to the Lord before sleeping; in a waterless fast, giving the body rest is also wisdom.

The paran is done on the morning of Dwadashi: after sunrise, once the Hari Vasara has passed and before the Dwadashi tithi ends. The Hari Vasara is the first quarter of the Dwadashi tithi, counted as part of Ekadashi itself; the fast is not opened within it. If Dwadashi ends only a little after sunrise, do the paran right after sunrise, since a paran after Dwadashi has passed is counted a fault. The date box on this page shows the paran window for your city. Before the paran bathe and do a short puja, give the dana, then first take a little water with a tulsi leaf, slowly and not too much at once, and after that fruit or a light meal of grain. After a day and night without water the body is best opened gently.

Dana, giving, is the special mark of this Ekadashi, and its centre is water. In the tradition, before the paran on Dwadashi or on Ekadashi itself, a clay pot or a kalash filled with water is given to brahmins and to the needy, covered with a lid, with a little mishri or sugar and a fruit set on top; with it a hand fan, an umbrella, sattu, fruits of the season such as mango, watermelon and cucumber, footwear, and cloth if one can afford it. Many homes and groups set up a water stall on the road this day and serve sherbet and buttermilk to passers-by; that too is the gift of this day. The point is simple: what you have given up for one day, give to someone else.

In the panchang Nirjala Ekadashi sometimes shows on two days, one marked Smarta and the next Vaishnava. The reason is that the tithi and the sunrise do not always fall together. The Smarta or householder tradition keeps the fast on the day on which the Ekadashi tithi is running at sunrise and the paran can be done the next morning within Dwadashi; if Ekadashi holds at two sunrises, the second day is taken. The Vaishnava traditions, the Shri sampradaya, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, ISKCON, go a step further: if Dashami is still running in the arunodaya, the last hours before that sunrise, they count that Ekadashi as 'Dashami-viddha', touched by Dashami, leave it and fast on the following day, when a pure Ekadashi or Dwadashi holds at sunrise. Their paran then also moves a day ahead.

The date box on this page shows the Smarta day, which is the tradition of most homes and panchangs in north India. Homes of the Vaishnava tradition should take the day from the panchang of their own sampradaya or temple. In a year in which both fall on the same day there is no question at all.

Both days are according to the shastras and both traditions are old. Whatever a family has followed is its tradition; choose the day by your family, your guru or your sampradaya, and do the paran accordingly. If in one home someone keeps the Smarta day and someone the Vaishnava, the vrat is not spoilt; the spirit is one.

Twenty-four Ekadashis come in a year, twenty-six when there is an extra month, and each has its own name and fruit. But in the tradition Nirjala Ekadashi alone is the one of which it is said that this single fast gives the fruit of all the Ekadashis. That was Vyasa's word to Bhima, and that is why those who cannot keep every Ekadashi through the year try to keep at least this one. For the same reason it is both the hardest of all the Ekadashis and the most widely kept.

Its timing is also part of its meaning. Jyeshtha is the month of the hottest days in India, when water is most dear and most scarce. To give up water for one day in that very month is the most direct test of restraint of the senses, and to give water to others on the same day is the natural fruit of that restraint. The tradition says that only one who has known thirst gives water rightly. That is why the gift of water pots, fans, umbrellas and water stalls on Nirjala Ekadashi is greater than on any other Ekadashi, and Ganga Dussehra, a festival of the worship of water itself, falls just the day before, on Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami.

And one meaning lies in the story itself. Bhima was the one who lost to hunger; it was he who for one day conquered both hunger and thirst. Nirjala Ekadashi is a reminder that the practice of restraint comes easily to no one, yet one day of complete restraint can be greater than a year of half-kept restraint, and that on the path to God one can go forward even while admitting one's limit.

After the puja and the katha the Vishnu aarti 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare' is sung; its full text has its own page in this library. Wave the aarti with a ghee lamp and camphor, sound the conch or the bell, and at the end bow saying 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'. After the aarti share the prasad of fruit and mishri in the family, those keeping the fast setting their share aside for the paran on Dwadashi, and in the evening begin the vigil.