Parsva Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha

When it falls

Next for Washington DC: Saturday, September 11, 2027. Parana: Sunday, September 12, 2027, 6:46 AM – 9:17 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.

The story

The turning, and Vamana. The Ekadashi Mahatmya printed at Pune says that on this Ekadashi the Lord, asleep, turns onto his side, and that people therefore call it Parivartini. Yudhishthira asks how Vishnu came to be asleep and why Bali was bound, and Krishna tells the story of Vamana. As a small brahmin boy he asked Bali for three steps of land. When Bali agreed, he grew until his form filled every world, with the earth at his feet and the highest heaven at his face, and the gods and sages sang his praise. With his steps he covered the worlds, and Bali was given a home in the world below, where Vishnu stays near him. The printing tells families to worship Vamana on this day and to give curd, rice and silver.

Mandhata and the rain. The Padma Purana calls this Ekadashi Padma or Padmanabha and tells instead of King Mandhata. Under his just rule no one went hungry, until for three years no rain fell. He went into the forest and found the sage Angiras. Angiras first spoke of a harsh old answer, that a man doing austerities outside his station was the cause and should die; the king refused to harm a man who had done no wrong and asked for another way. Angiras told him to keep this Ekadashi of Bhadrapada with all his people. They did, the rain came, and the land grew green. The text adds that on this Ekadashi one should give a brahmin a pot of water with curd and rice, cloth, an umbrella and sandals.

About this telling

The two printings place the two stories the other way round: the Padma Purana (1894) tells Vamana and Bali for Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha, and the Pune printing (1890) tells Mandhata's drought there. Both are given, each with its source. The king's refusal in the Padma Purana's telling is kept because it is the point of the story: he will not harm an innocent man to end a drought.

Where the story comes from

• Ekadashi Mahatmya, the Sanskrit stories of the Ekadashis as Krishna tells them to Yudhishthira, printed as a pothi (Pune: Ravji Shridhar Gondhalekar, Jagaddhitechhu Press, first edition, Shaka 1812, that is 1890; imprint, leaf n215). Its colophons assign the stories to the Bhavishyottara, Brahmavaivarta and Skanda Puranas. An anonymous Sanskrit text: public domain. Read on the page images and retold in our own words. The Parivartini Ekadashi of Bhadrapada and the story of Vamana. (folios 77–80 (leaves n155–n160))
• Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, chapter 59, 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 59, pp. 1367–1369 (leaves n149–n151))

Sources

• Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
• Ekadashi Mahatmya (Pune: Jagaddhitechhu Press, 1890). (folios 77–80 (leaves n155–n160))
• Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 59. (pp. 1367–1369 (leaves n149–n151))

More Ekadashis

• Aja Ekadashi
• Indira Ekadashi
• All Ekadashis and their stories
• Ekadashi 2026: all dates
• Ekadashi 2027: all dates