Kamada Ekadasi () is a Hindu occasion, which falls on the 11th lunar day (

ekadashi Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of each of the two lunar phases which occur in an Vedic calendar month - the '' Shukla Pakṣa'' (the period of the brightening moon also known as the waxing phase) and the ''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa ...

) of the fortnight of the waxing moon in the

Hindu month The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

Chaitra Chaitra (Hindi: चैत्र) is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Cho ...

(March–April). It is the first ekadashi after the Hindu New Year, and as its name ''Kamada'' suggests, is believed to believed to be the occasion when all the desires of a devotee are granted.

Legend

The legend about the Kamada Ekadashi is narrated by the deity

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

to the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...

King

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first w ...

in the ''

Varaha Purana The ''Varaha Purana'' ( sa, वराह पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text from the Puranas genre of literature in Hinduism. It belongs to the Vaishnavism literature corpus praising Narayana (Vishnu), but includes chapters dedicated to prais ...

'', as it was told by the sage

Vasishtha Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha an ...

to King Dilipa. Once, a young

gandharva A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...

couple, Lalit, and his wife Lalita, lived in the city of Ratnapura, a highly prosperous city decorated with gold and silver, which was ruled by the King Pundarika. Lalit was a famed singer, while Lalita was a renowned dancer at the royal court. One day, when Lalit was singing in the royal court, his attention fluttered from the song to his wife, who was absent from the court. As a result, he missed some beats and incorrectly ended his performance. A

naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...

from the

Patala In Indian religions, Patala (Sanskrit: पाताल, IAST: pātāla, lit. ''that which is below the feet''), denotes the subterranean realms of the universe – which are located under the earthly dimension. Patala is often translated as unde ...

Region,

Karkotaka Karkotaka ( sa, कर्कोटक, translit=Karkoṭaka) is a naga king in Hinduism. One of the children of Kashyapa and Kadru, Karkotaka is regarded to have lived in a forest near the Nishadha Kingdom. According to Hindu mythology, he sti ...

, knew well the mystery of this situation complained to the king of the folly, and said that Lalit considered his wife more important than his master, the king. Infuriated, the King Pundarika cursed Lalit to become a monstrous cannibal, who was sixty-four miles in height. His neck was like a mountain, arms eight miles long and mouth the size of huge cave. This greatly distressed Lalita, who wandered around the forests with her monstrous husband who dealt in sinful activities. While wandering around the

Vindhyachal Vindhyachal is a city in Mirzapur district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city is a Hindu pilgrimage site having the temple of Vindhyavasini, who according to Markandeya Purana had incarnated to kill the demon Mahishasura. The deta ...

Hills, Lalita came across the sage Shringi. Paying her respects to the sage, she appealed to him to provide a solution to her problem. Sage Shringi told her to observe the

vrata Vrata is a Sanskrit word that means "vow, resolve, devotion", and refers to pious observances such as fasting and pilgrimage ( Tirtha) found in Indian religions such as Jainism and Hinduism. It is typically accompanied with prayers seeking hea ...

(vow) of Kamada Ekadasi, to atone for the sins of her husband. Lalita observed the ekadashi fast with great devotion and the next day again visited the sage and bowed to the deity Krishna. She requested deity to free her husband from the king's curse as a reward of the religious merit gained by the fast. With the blessings of Krishna, Lalit was restored to his original gandharva form. Thereafter, they were taken to

Svarga Svarga (), also known as Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is regarded to b ...

on a celestial flying chariot.

Practices

After taking bath in the morning of Kamada Ekadashi, the devotee observes a fast. Worship is also offered to Vishnu in the form of Krishna, often in a nearby temple. The religious merit gained from this vrata is believed to grant all desires, to cleanse even the most heinous sin one committed (like murder of a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

) and to free the devotee or his family members from curses.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{citation , last= Dwivedi , first= Dr. Bhojraj Dwivedi , title= Religious Basis Of Hindu Beliefs , url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7wmqKuHFWWgC&q=Kamada+Ekadashi&pg=PA148 , access-date=24 November 2012, year=2006, publisher= Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd, isbn=9788128812392 Ekadashi Hindu holy days March observances April observances Hindu festivals