Ekadashi fast
Apara Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
अपरा एकादशी
Apara Ekadashi 2027 is on Monday, May 31 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Tuesday, June 1, between 5:52 and 8:41 AM.
Eat between 5:52 and 8:41 AM on Tuesday, June 1.
- Fast
Monday, May 31, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta and Vaishnava agree.
- Break the fast
Tuesday, June 1, 2027, 5:52–8:41 AM
Smarta rule.
- Fast in India
Tuesday, June 1, 2027
New Delhi, same rule.
Vaishnava parana: Tue 1 Jun, 5:52–10:39 AM.
Why this time
Break the fast after Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Smarta rule: fast on the day Ekadashi prevails at sunrise (Dashami at sunrise spoils the day).
The fast day
The day in Washington DC
- Sunrise: 5:45 AM
- Rahu Kaal: 7:35 to 9:25 AM
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:36 to 1:35 PM
- Sunset: 8:26 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 8:26 to 10:18 PM
- Ekadashi ends: 12:10 AM +1 day, then Dwadashi
- Next sunrise: 5:44 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Revati until 3:20 AM, 1 Jun
- Nakshatra: Ashwini until 2:47 AM, 2 Jun
Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 1: Break the fast
A tithi is a lunar day. It ends when the Moon gains another 12° on the Sun, at the same instant everywhere, so the clock time differs by city.
A tithi is a lunar day. It ends when the Moon gains another 12° on the Sun, at the same instant everywhere, so the clock time differs by city.
The nakshatra is the Moon’s place among the 27 star groups.
The nakshatra is the Moon’s place among the 27 star groups.
One of eight equal parts of the daytime, set by the weekday. Many families avoid starting new work in it. It is a calendar fact, not a prediction.
The eighth of fifteen equal parts of the daytime, around local noon.
The first part of the night after sunset. Evening pujas such as Lakshmi Puja follow it.
Break the fast after Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Apara Ekadashi is on Monday, May 31, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Tuesday, June 1, 2027, 5:52 AM – 8:41 AM.
Words on this page
- Paksha: Shukla and Krishna
- Half of a lunar month. In Shukla paksha, the bright half, the Moon grows. In Krishna paksha, the dark half, it wanes.
- Smarta rule and Vaishnava rule
- Two traditions' rules for the day of a festival or a fast. When they give different days, our pages show both and name each rule.
- Parana
- Breaking a fast at the time its rule allows. For Ekadashi: on the next day, after sunrise and Hari Vasara, before Dwadashi ends.
- Hari Vasara
- The first quarter of the Dwadashi tithi. The Ekadashi fast is not broken in it.
- Arunodaya
- The dawn before sunrise. In the Vaishnava Ekadashi rule, the 96 minutes (four ghatikas) before sunrise.
Vaishakha Krishna in the amanta calendar; Jyeshtha Krishna in the purnimanta calendar
Apara means "boundless". It is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Jyeshtha (Vaishakha in the amanta calendar). Its teaching is a list of everyday wrongs, such as lying, cheating and running from duty, and the text says that this fast washes them away.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Monday, May 31, 2027. Parana: Tuesday, June 1, 2027, 5:52 AM – 8:41 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
Present-day vrat-katha books tell a tale for this day. A good king named Mahidhvaja had a younger brother, Vajradhvaja, who was jealous of him. One night the younger brother killed the king and hid his body in the forest, beneath a peepal tree. Because the king's life was cut short, his spirit could not move on. It stayed by the peepal tree, restless and unable to find peace.
One day the sage Dhaumya came that way. By the power of his long practice he saw the restless spirit and knew its whole story. He called it down from the tree and taught it about the life beyond this one. Then the sage kept the Apara Ekadashi fast himself and gave all its merit to the king. The tellings say that the king was set free, took a shining form, thanked the sage and went to heaven. Families tell it as a tale of giving away the good one has earned to someone who cannot help himself.
In the Padma Purana, Krishna tells Yudhishthira that on this day Vishnu is worshipped as Trivikrama, the god of the three great steps. Then he names the people whose wrongs, the text says, this fast removes: one who gives false witness, one who cheats with false weights, one who teaches the Veda or the law falsely, a false astrologer, a false physician, a warrior who runs from his duty in battle, and a student who insults his own teacher.
He also names what the fast is worth, comparing it with the great pilgrimages: bathing at Prayag in Magha, keeping Shivaratri at Kashi, offering rice balls (pinda) for the ancestors at Gaya, bathing in the Godavari, seeing Kedara, travelling to Badari, and bathing at Kurukshetra at an eclipse of the sun. The text says that Apara gives the merit of all these. This is the text's claim, not a promise. Families read the list as a mirror: a day each month to look honestly at how one has spoken and worked.
About this telling
The tale of King Mahidhvaja is told in present-day vrat-katha books and on many websites. Most of them name no Purana for it; one credits it to the Padma Purana, and some English versions credit Krishna's praise of this day to the Brahmanda Purana. No printed Sanskrit text of the tale was found: the Padma Purana's printing, and the old Ekadashi Mahatmya printings read for this page, give only Krishna's description of the day, which the last part above follows. The retelling of the tale is ours, from the facts the versions agree on. One version names the sage Mandavya, not Dhaumya.
Fasting is a choice. Anyone who is pregnant, nursing, diabetic, unwell, elderly or on regular medicine should talk to a doctor before fasting.
Where the story comes from
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, chapter 52, in the Anandashrama Sanskrit Series edition (Padmapuranam, part 4, Uttara Khanda, edited by V. N. Mandlik; Poona: Anandashrama Press, 1894; title page, leaf n5). An anonymous Sanskrit text: public domain. Read on the page images and retold in our own words. (chapter 52, pp. 1356–1357 (leaves n138–n139))
- The tale of King Mahidhvaja and the sage Dhaumya, as told in present-day Hindi vrat-katha books and on many websites; the versions read are listed in this page's validation record. No printed Sanskrit text of the tale was found. Retold in our own words from the facts those versions agree on; no wording is copied.
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 52. (pp. 1356–1357 (leaves n138–n139))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Apara Ekadashi in Washington DC: Tuesday, June 1, 2027, 5:52 AM – 8:41 AM. Break the fast after Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Why can the Smarta and Vaishnava dates differ?
Each tradition has its own rule. Smarta rule: fast on the day Ekadashi prevails at sunrise (Dashami at sunrise spoils the day). Vaishnava rule (Gaudiya): Ekadashi prevails from arunodaya (96 minutes before sunrise) through sunrise. How we compute dates
More Ekadashis
Source and licence
- Our explanation
- Written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against them. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the sources listed, October 22, 2026.