Mokshada Ekadashi
Lord Vishnu
When it falls
The date shifts because it tracks the moon, not the Gregorian calendar.
Calculated for India (IST) using precise Panchang astronomy. Dates can shift by a day at locations far to the east or west.
Significance & story
Ekadashi — the eleventh day of each lunar fortnight — is kept twice a month as a fast for Vishnu, and each of the twenty-four has its own name and reward. Mokshada Ekadashi is the one in the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of Margashirsha, and its name says plainly what it is meant to give: moksha, release from the cycle of birth and death. Tradition holds that the merit of this fast can be offered not only for oneself but for departed ancestors, helping settle a debt the living carry toward the dead.
The same day is observed as Gita Jayanti — the anniversary of the day Krishna is said to have spoken the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. That overlap is not a coincidence in the tradition: a day given to the teaching that points the way out of bondage is also the day whose fast is named for liberation. Many keep the two together, fasting for Vishnu and reading or hearing the Gita.
Like every Ekadashi, the practical core is restraint rather than spectacle. There is no large public procession; the day is kept quietly at home and in temples through fasting, worship of Vishnu, and time given to scripture. It recurs every lunar fortnight under a different name, so a household that keeps Ekadashi regularly will return to this same vrat each year in Margashirsha.
Rituals & observance
How Mokshada Ekadashi is kept:
- The day is a fast (vrat) for Vishnu. Many keep a full fast without food or water; others take a single light meal of permitted foods — fruit, milk, and root vegetables — avoiding grains, rice, lentils (dal) and beans, which are set aside on every Ekadashi.
- Worship is offered to Vishnu, often with tulsi leaves, a lamp, and the recitation of his names; the observant try to stay awake or in remembrance through the evening.
- Because the day is also Gita Jayanti, reading or listening to the Bhagavad Gita is a central part of the day — at home, in temples, or in group recitations.
- The fast traditionally begins at sunrise on Ekadashi and is held through the day and night.
- The fast is broken the next morning (parana) within the prescribed window after sunrise on Dwadashi, the twelfth day — eating before that window or letting it close is avoided.
- Donating food or giving to those in need is considered part of the day, and the vrat's merit is often dedicated to departed ancestors.
How this date is determined
Observed on the Ekadashi tithi of Margashirsha (Shukla paksha), reckoned by sunrise (udaya tithi).
Dates are computed to astronomical precision (NASA/JPL ephemeris), in line with traditional panchang.
