Putrada Ekadasi 2195

King Yudhishthira asked Sri Krishna about the Ekadashi of the bright half of Pausha. Sri Krishna said that it is called Putrada. Its deity is Vishnu, who grants every wish and all prosperity. Then He told this story.

Long ago King Suketuman ruled in the city of Bhadravati. His queen was named Champaka. The king had no son to carry on his line, and year after year this was his only longing. Neither his kingdom nor his city gave him any joy. Every day he and his faithful wife grieved together. Even his ancestors were unhappy. When he offered them water it seemed to them only lukewarm, and they thought, "After this king, who will offer to us?"

The king found no pleasure in his kinsmen, his ministers or his friends, in his elephants, horses or soldiers. "A man without a son misses the fruit of his life," he thought. "His house is empty and his heart is sad. Without a son he cannot repay his debt to his ancestors, to the gods and to men." Morning and night he brooded like this. He even thought of ending his life, but he saw that this too would bring misfortune. So he mounted his horse and rode alone into a dense forest. Not even his family priest knew that he had gone.

He wandered among great trees, wild elephants and deer, and heard jackals and owls cry. By noon he was weak with hunger and thirst. "What have I done to suffer like this?" he thought. "I have pleased the gods with sacrifices, the brahmanas with gifts and food, and I have cared for my people like my own sons."

Then, by the power of his good deeds, he came upon a lovely lake full of lotuses, with ducks, ruddy geese and royal swans. Near it were the hermitages of many sages. Good omens appeared; his right eye and his right hand throbbed. The king bowed again and again before the sages, who were softly reciting the Vedas. "O king, we are pleased with you," they said.

He asked who they were. They said, "We are the Vishvedevas. We have come here to bathe, for the month of Magha begins in five days. Today is the Ekadashi called Putrada. Vishnu gives a son to those who keep it."

"I long for a son," said the king. "If you are pleased with me, grant me one."

"Today is that very Putrada," they replied. "Keep this vow. By our grace and the grace of Vishnu you will surely have a son."

The king kept the vow as the sages said, and then returned home. In time the queen conceived, and a radiant son was born. He pleased his father by his good deeds, and later he became king.

Sri Krishna said that those who keep Putrada with a steady mind have sons in this world and go to heaven afterwards. Whoever tells or hears it gains the merit of the Agnishtoma sacrifice.