Ekadashi fast
Jaya Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
जया एकादशी
Jaya Ekadashi 2027 is on Tuesday, February 16 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). By the Vaishnava rule it is on Wednesday, February 17. Break the fast on Wednesday, February 17, between 1:27 and 3:37 PM (Smarta rule).
Eat between 1:27 and 3:37 PM on Wednesday, February 17 (Smarta rule).
- Fast
Tuesday, February 16, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta rule.
- Break the fast
Wednesday, February 17, 2027, 1:27–3:37 PM
Smarta rule.
- Vaishnava rule
Wednesday, February 17, 2027
Fast by the Vaishnava rule. Break it Thursday 18 February, 6:55 AM – 10:33 AM.
- Fast in India
Wednesday, February 17, 2027
New Delhi, same rule.
Vaishnava parana: Thu 18 Feb, 6:55–10:33 AM.
Why this time
Hari Vasara ends after pratahkala; parana is avoided in madhyahna, so break the fast after madhyahna, within aparahna (the fourth fifth of the day, which ends the window).
Smarta rule: Dwadashi does not prevail after the next sunrise, so householders fast on the day Ekadashi begins even though Dashami prevails at its sunrise (Padma Purana, Skanda Purana; Dharmasindhu). The next day is for sannyasis and those seeking moksha.
The fast day
The day in Washington DC
- Sunrise: 6:58 AM
- Dashami ends: 9:49 AM, then Ekadashi
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:00 to 12:44 PM
- Rahu Kaal: 3:04 to 4:25 PM
- Sunset: 5:46 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 5:46 to 8:24 PM
- Next sunrise: 6:57 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Mrigashira until 3:08 PM
- Nakshatra: Ardra until 12:59 PM, 17 Feb
Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17: 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.
Hari Vasara ends after pratahkala; parana is avoided in madhyahna, so break the fast after madhyahna, within aparahna (the fourth fifth of the day, which ends the window).
Jaya Ekadashi is on Tuesday, February 16, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). By the Vaishnava rule it is on Wednesday, February 17, 2027. Break the fast on Wednesday, February 17, 2027, 1:27 PM – 3:37 PM.
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.
Magha Shukla (the same month in the amanta and purnimanta calendars)
Jaya means "victory". It is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Magha. Its story is about two heavenly musicians who lost their place in heaven and won it back through a fast they kept without planning to.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Tuesday, February 16, 2027 (Vaishnava: Wednesday, February 17, 2027). Parana: Wednesday, February 17, 2027, 1:27 PM – 3:37 PM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
In Indra's heaven the gandharvas sang and the apsaras danced in the gardens of Nandana. Among them were Pushpavati, daughter of Chitrasena, and Malyavan, son of Pushpadanta. One day, as they performed before Indra, they could think only of each other. They lost the tune and the beat, and the music broke.
Indra was angry and sent them down to earth to live as pishachas, restless spirits. They came to the Himalaya, where it was bitterly cold. Unhappy, they wandered through the snow.
On the Ekadashi of the bright half of Magha they were so wretched that they ate nothing at all, drank no water and harmed no living thing. They sat beneath a pipal tree, and the cold kept them awake all night. Without knowing it, they had kept the Jaya Ekadashi fast and its vigil. At sunrise on the next day they were free, and they took their own bright forms again. They returned to Indra, who asked how they had been released. When they told him, Indra said that those who are devoted to Hari deserve honour even from the gods.
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 45, 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 45, pp. 1343–1344 (leaves n125–n126))
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 45. (pp. 1343–1344 (leaves n125–n126))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Jaya Ekadashi in Washington DC: Wednesday, February 17, 2027, 1:27 PM – 3:37 PM. Hari Vasara ends after pratahkala; parana is avoided in madhyahna, so break the fast after madhyahna, within aparahna (the fourth fifth of the day, which ends the window).
Why can the Smarta and Vaishnava dates differ?
Each tradition has its own rule. Smarta rule: Dwadashi does not prevail after the next sunrise, so householders fast on the day Ekadashi begins even though Dashami prevails at its sunrise (Padma Purana, Skanda Purana; Dharmasindhu). The next day is for sannyasis and those seeking moksha. Vaishnava rule (Gaudiya): Trisprsa Mahadvadashi; the fast is kept on this Ekadashi day. 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 14, 2026.
- Updated
- October 15, 2026