Rama Ekadasi 1972

King Yudhishthira asked Sri Krishna the name of the Ekadashi of the dark half of Kartika (Purnimanta; Ashvina in Amanta). Sri Krishna said that it is called Rama, and that it removes great sins.

Long ago there was a king named Muchukunda. He was a friend of Indra, Yama, Varuna, Kubera and Vibhishana. He was a great devotee of Vishnu and true to his word. In his house was born a daughter, Chandrabhaga, lovely as the river of that name. She was married to Shobhana, the son of Chandrasena.

Once Shobhana came to stay at his father in law's house, and the holy day of Ekadashi came. Chandrabhaga worried, "O Lord, what will happen? My husband is very weak and cannot bear hunger, and my father's rule is strict." On the tenth day the king's drum was beaten through the city: "Do not eat, do not eat on the day of Vishnu."

Shobhana asked his wife what he should do.

Chandrabhaga said, "In my father's house no one eats today. Even the elephants and horses do not eat on the day of Vishnu. If you eat, you will be blamed. Make your mind strong."

Shobhana said, "You are right. I will fast. What fate has written will happen." He kept the vow, but hunger tormented him. The night was very painful for him. At sunrise Shobhana died.

After his funeral rites Chandrabhaga stayed on in her father's house.

But by the power of the Rama vow, Shobhana reached a divine city on the peak of Mount Mandara. There he sat on a throne under a white umbrella, praised by gandharvas and served by apsaras, shining like a king of kings.

A brahmana named Somasharma, from Muchukunda's city, came there on pilgrimage and recognised him. Shobhana bowed to him, and Somasharma asked how he had gained so wonderful a city.

Shobhana said, "I fasted on Rama Ekadashi and gained this city, but it is not stable because I kept the vow without faith. Tell Chandrabhaga all this, and it will become stable."

Somasharma went back and told Chandrabhaga. She said, "Take me to my husband. By the merit of my own vow I will make the city stable."

Somasharma took her to the hermitage of the sage Vamadeva near Mount Mandara. The sage sprinkled her with water while reciting Vedic hymns. By the power of the hymns and of her Ekadashi vows, her body became divine. She went to her husband, who seated her at his left.

She said, "Since I passed my eighth year in my father's house, I have kept the Ekadashi vow with faith. By that merit this city will be stable and full of every good thing until the end of the world." So she lived happily with Shobhana on the peak of Mandara.

Sri Krishna said that this vow is like the wish fulfilling gem and the wish fulfilling cow, and whoever hears of it is freed from all sins and honoured in the world of Vishnu.