Saphala Ekadashi fasting story
Yudhishthira asked, “O king! What is the name of Krishna Ekadashi? Which deity is worshipped on that day and what is its method? Please do tell me
Bhaktavatsala Lord Kr ̣ s ̣ n ̣ a began to say, “Dharmaraja, because of your love, I tell you that apart from the Ekadashi vrat, I am not pleased with the yajna that gets more and more dakshina. So do it with utmost devotion and faith. Hey Raj! Listen to the significance of Krishna Ekadashi with concentration.
The name of this Ekadashi is Sankashti Ekadashi. The deity of this Ekadashi is Shrinarayan. This ritual should be performed regularly. Just as Sheshnag is the best among the Nagas, Garuda among the birds, Moon among all the planets, Ashwamedha among the yagnas and Lord Vishnu among the deities, in the same way the fast of Ekadashi is the best among all the vows. People who always fast on Ekadashi are very dear to me. Now let me tell you the method of this fast.
Collect sixteen items like seasonal fruits, coconut, lemon, naivedya etc. for my worship. Wake up at night after worshipping me with this material. There is no yagna, tirtha, dana, tapa and any other fast like this Ekadashi fast. The fruit that is obtained by doing penance for five thousand years is more successful than fasting on Ekadashi. Hey Raj! Now you listen to the story of this Ekadashi.
A king named Mahishman used to rule in Champavati city. He had four sons. Among them was a great king named Lumpaka. The sinner always squandered his father’s wealth in adultery and fornication and other vices. He always used to denounce Deities, Brahmans and Vaishnavas. When the king came to know of such misdeeds of his elder son, he expelled him from his kingdom. Then he asked me where I was going. what should I do
Finally, he decided to commit suicide. By day he dwelt in the forest, and by night he stole into his father’s city, and did evil things to oppress the people, and to kill them. After a while the whole city was in a panic. He lived in the forest and ate animals. The citizens and officials of the state would catch him but let him go out of fear of the king.
There was a huge banyan tree in the forest. People worshipped him as God. He was sitting under a tree. People used to consider this place as the abode of the gods. After some time, on the tenth day of Pausha Krishna Paksha, he could not sleep the whole night due to cold as he was without clothes. His hands and legs were swollen.
At sunrise, he fainted. On the second day of Ekadashi, after getting the heat of the sun at noon, his fainting was removed. He went out in search of food. He was not able to kill the animals, so he picked up the fruits fallen under the trees and came back under the same peepal tree. By that time, the sun had set. He placed the fruit under the tree and said, “O my Lord! Now it’s your fruit. You will be satisfied. I couldn’t sleep that night because of the pain.
By this fast and awakening of his, the Lord became extremely pleased and all his sins were destroyed. The next morning a very beautiful horse, adorned with many beautiful things, came and stood in front of him.
At the same time the voice of the king was heard saying: “O son of the king! By the grace of Shri Narayana, your sins have been destroyed. Now you shall inherit the kingdom of Zacharias from your father. Hearing such a voice, he was very happy and dressed in divine clothes and went to his father saying, “God bless you.” His father, being pleased, entrusted him with the whole kingdom and took the road to the forest.
Now Lumpaka began to rule according to the scriptures. His wife, son, and all his family became ardent devotees of Lord Narayana. When he became old, he also handed over the kingdom to his son and went to do penance in the forest and finally attained Vaikuntha.
Therefore, the person who fasts on this most holy Saphala Ekadashi gets salvation in the end. Those who do not do so are like animals without tails and horns. By reading or listening to the Mahatmya of this Saphala Ekadashi, man gets the fruits of the Ashvamedha Yajna.