Papankusa Ekadasi

Pasankusa or Papankusa Ekadasi is one of the most significant Vedic fasting days, observed in the Ashvina month on the eleventh day (Ekadasi) of Shukla Paksha (the bright phase of lunar cycle). Therefore, the festival is also popular as Ashwina-Shukla Ekadasi. According to the Gregorian calendar, this festival is celebrated in the month of September or October. Pasankusa Ekadasi is celebrated to worship Lord Padmanabha, the Lord with a navel like a lotus.

It is an auspicious start for the rest of the year, and we encourage devotees reading this to kindly consider donating on this day.

The Glories of Pasankusa (Papankusa) Ekadasi

From the Brahma-vaivarta Purana

Yudhishthira Maharaja said, "Oh Madhusudana, what is the name of the Ekadashi that comes during the light fortnight of the month of Ashvina (September-October)? Please be merciful and disclose this truth to me."

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna replied, "Oh king, please listen as I explain the glories of this Ekadashi – Pasankusa Ekadashi – which removes all sins. On this day one should worship the Deity of Padmanabha, the lotus-naveled Lord Vishnu, according to the rules of archana viddhi (regulations). By so doing, one achieves whatever heavenly pleasures one may want in this world, and at last attains liberation. Simply by offering one's humble obeisances unto Lord Vishnu, the rider of Garuda, one can achieve the same merit as is gained by performing great penances for a long time. Although a person might have committed unlimited and abominable sins, he can still escape hellish punishment just by paying his obeisances to Lord Sri Hari."

"The merits gained by going on pilgrimage to the Holy Tirthas of this earthly planet can also be achieved simply by chanting the Holy names of Lord Vishnu. Whosoever chants these sacred names such as Rama, Vishnu, Janardana, or Krishna, especially on Ekadashi, never sees Yamaraja, the king of death's punishing abode. Nor does such a devotee who fasts on Pasankusa Ekadashi, which is very dear to Me, see that plutonic abode."

"Lord Sri Krishna added: Both the Vaishnava who criticizes Lord Shiva and the Shaivite who criticizes Me certainly go to hell. The merit obtained by performing one hundred horse sacrifices and one hundred Rajasuya sacrifices is not even equal to one-sixteenth of the merit a devotee is able to attain by fasting on Ekadashi. There is no higher merit one can achieve than that attained by fasting on Ekadashi."

The Goad of Sinful Reactions

"O king, until a person observes a fast on the day of Lord Padmanabha named Pasankusa Ekadashi, he remains sinful, and the reactions of his past sinful activities never leave him. There is no merit in all the three worlds that can match the merit that one gains by observing a fast on this Ekadasi. One who desires liberation, elevation to the heavens, good health, beautiful consorts, wealth, and food grains should simply fast on this Pasankusa Ekadashi. Neither the Ganges, Gaya, Kashi, nor Pushkara, nor even the Holy site of Kurukshetra, can grant as much auspicious merit as this Pasankusa Ekadashi."

"O Maharaja Yudhishthira, after observing Ekadashi during the daytime, the devotee should remain awake through the night, absorbed in hearing, chanting, and serving the Lord, for by so doing he easily attains to the Supreme abode of Lord Vishnu. Not only that, but ten generations of ancestors on his mother's side, ten generations on his father's side, and ten generations on his wife's side are all liberated by a single observance of a fast on this Ekadashi. All these ancestors attain their original, four-armed transcendental Vaikuntha forms. Wearing yellow garments and beautiful garlands, they ride to the spiritual realm on the back of Garuda. This is the benediction My devotee earns."

"Fasting on Pasankusa Ekadashi frees one from all sins and makes one immune to suffering a hellish rebirth. Whosoever donates gold, sesame seeds, fertile land, cows, grain, drinking water, an umbrella, or a pair of shoes on this most auspicious of Holy days will never have to visit the abode of Yamaraja. But if a resident of Earth fails to perform spiritual deeds, especially the observance of a fast on days such as Ekadashi, his breathing is said to be no better than the puffing of a blacksmith's bellows."

"O best of the kings, especially on this Pasankusa Ekadashi, even the poor should first bathe and then give some charity according to their means. A person who observes Pasankusa Ekadashi goes to the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu."

Lord Sri Krishna concluded, "Thus, Oh saintly Yudhishthira, I have narrated to you the glories of the auspicious Pasankusa Ekadashi."