It is believed that devotees who perform Papmochani Ekadashi meticulously with pure heart and faith will get relieved from their past and present sins by Lord Vishnu’s blessings.
Papmochani Ekadashi Vrat:
Ekadashi means the 11th of day of each of the lunar phases. So according to the Vedic calendar, every year gets twenty-four Ekadashis dedicated to different Lords. Out of that, the 11th day of Krishna paksha in the Hindu month Chaitra is known as Papmochani Ekadashi.
This is an auspicious day dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The term Papmochani comprises of two Sanskrit words: ‘Pap’ and ‘Mochani.’ The word ‘Pap’ means sins, and ‘Mochani’ indicates discharge. Therefore it is believed that devotees who perform Papmochani Ekadashi meticulously with pure heart and faith will get relieved from their past and present sins by Lord Vishnu’s blessings. Lord Vishnu who is the supreme almighty brings health, spiritual balance, and prosperity to lead life in a most ideal way.
This sacred day falls between the Holi festival and Chaitra Navratri. So according to the English calendar, it arrives around March and April.
Rituals Of This vrat:
The preparations of this vrat starts from the previous day called dashmi. Devotees are supposed to observe a fast by eating nothing or just satvik and fruit-based diet. Then they wake up before sunrise and take a bath in a nearby river or lake. After that, they visit temples and offer prayers and various Prashad to Lord Vishnu. Aarti and puja also need to be performed with essential offerings and spiritual mantras.
After Ekadashi’s fast devotees can break their fast in the next morning of Dwadashi. Devotees are not advised to break their fast during Hari Vasana which is the fourth duration of Dwadashi. Ideally, they should beak the fast in the morning.
The two-day fast brings peace and balance to the body. People meditate and absorb only spiritual energy to seek blessings and forgiveness from Lord Vishnu
Vrat Katha Of Papmochani Ekadashi:
As per scriptures, there was a sage named Medhavi who was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He was a son of sage Chyavana and used to live in the forest called Chitraratha to meditate meticulously and spend his life worshiping Lord Shiva. The forest was filled with beautiful flowers and thus, was a great attraction for Lord Indra. So he used to visit the forest along with his apsaras. And one day, while he was visiting, he saw sage Medhavi and thought he needed to disrupt his mediation to stop him from getting high palace in heaven. But he couldn’t succeed in his motive.
Out of his apsaras, one beautiful apsara named Manjughosha liked the sage Medhavi from the first glance. And she tried immensely to wake him up from his mediation, but Medhavi’s purity and devotion were so strong that she also couldn’t succeed in her motive.
After a while, Manjughosha decided to live few miles away from the sage, and she started singing in a melodious voice. Watching her singing so splendidly Lord Kamdev got impressed and shot an arrow of love to draw Medhavi’s attention towards Manjughosha.
Medhavi saw Manjughosha and fell in love with her beauty. So he started living with her and losing his purity and sageness. After living with her for few years, Manjughosha lost her interest and wanted to free herself. When she asked his permission, he got so angry that he cursed her to transform into an ugly witch.
After feeling cheated and abandoned, Medhavi went to his father’s ashram. Where sage Chyavana guided him to observe a fast of Papmocha Ekadashi to worship Lord Vishnu and get forgiveness for his sins, both Medhavi and Manjughosha realized their sins and they observed the Ekadashi’s fast to seek blessings of Lord Vishnu. As a result, they both got relieved from their sins, and this incident became the origin of this auspicious day.
