Aja Ekadasi 2198

King Yudhishthira asked Sri Krishna the name of the Ekadashi of the dark half of Bhadrapada (Purnimanta; Shravana in Amanta). Sri Krishna said, "Listen carefully. This Ekadashi is called Aja, and it destroys all sins. The sins of one who worships Vishnu and keeps this vow perish, and so do the sins of one who only hears of it. Nothing is more helpful for this world and the next. I tell you the truth."

Long ago there was a king named Harishchandra. He was an emperor, lord of the whole earth, and true to his word. Because of the fruit of some past deed, he lost his kingdom. He sold his wife and his son, and then he sold himself. The righteous king became the slave of a chandala. Holding fast to truth, he took the clothes from the dead at the burning ground. Yet in all this the great king never once turned away from the truth.

Many years passed like this. At last the king was filled with sorrow and anxiety. "What shall I do? Where shall I go? How shall I escape?" he thought, sunk as he was in an ocean of suffering.

Then a sage came to him, knowing how troubled the king was. Brahma created brahmanas to help others. The sage was Gautama. Seeing him, the king bowed and stood before him with joined palms, and told him his whole sad story. Gautama was amazed to hear it.

The sage told the king about the vow. "O king, the most auspicious Ekadashi of the dark half of Bhadrapada, called Aja, which gives great merit, is near. By your good fortune it comes on the seventh day from today. Keep its vow and stay awake through its night, and your sin will surely come to an end. It is because of your own merit that I have come here." Having said this, the sage vanished.

The king did as the sage had said and kept the vow. At once his sin was destroyed. The suffering that would have lasted many more years came to an end. By the power of the vow the king was free of his misery. He was united with his wife and lived with his son once more. Drums sounded in the sky and flowers rained down from above.

By the power of the Ekadashi he regained his kingdom, free from all trouble. In the end Harishchandra went to heaven together with the people of his city and all that was his.

Sri Krishna said that those who keep this vow are freed from all sins and go to heaven, and whoever tells or even hears of it gains the fruit of a horse sacrifice.