Ekadashi fast
Varuthini Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
वरूथिनी एकादशी
Varuthini Ekadashi 2027 is on Sunday, May 2 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Monday, May 3, between 6:08 and 8:55 AM.
Eat between 6:08 and 8:55 AM on Monday, May 3.
- Fast
Sunday, May 2, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta and Vaishnava agree.
- Break the fast
Monday, May 3, 2027, 6:08–8:55 AM
Smarta rule.
Same date in India (New Delhi).
Vaishnava parana: Mon 3 May, 6:08–10:34 AM.
Why this time
Break the fast after sunrise, 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: 6:09 AM
- Ekadashi ends: 10:22 AM, then Dwadashi
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:37 to 1:33 PM
- Rahu Kaal: 6:17 to 8:01 PM
- Sunset: 8:01 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 8:01 to 10:02 PM
- Next sunrise: 6:08 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Purva Bhadrapada until 5:10 PM
- Nakshatra: Uttara Bhadrapada until 5:50 PM, 3 May
Tomorrow, Monday, May 3: 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 sunrise, within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Varuthini Ekadashi is on Sunday, May 2, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Monday, May 3, 2027, 6:08 AM – 8:55 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.
Chaitra Krishna in the amanta calendar; Vaishakha Krishna in the purnimanta calendar
Varuthini means "she who protects", like armour. It is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Vaishakha (Chaitra in the amanta calendar), in early summer. Its teaching is about giving, above all the giving of food and of knowledge.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Sunday, May 2, 2027. Parana: Monday, May 3, 2027, 6:08 AM – 8:55 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
Present-day vrat-katha books tell a tale for this day. King Mandhata, a generous king, lived on the bank of the Narmada. Once, while he sat in the forest in prayer and austerity, a wild bear came, seized his foot and began to drag him away. The king did not strike back or grow angry. He stayed calm and called on Vishnu. Vishnu came and struck the bear down with his discus, but the king's foot was already badly hurt.
The tellings say Vishnu told him the pain came from a wrong in an earlier life. He told the king to go to Mathura, keep the Varuthini Ekadashi fast and worship Vishnu's Varaha form, the boar. The king did so, and the tellings say that his foot was made whole again and that in the end he reached heaven. Families tell it as a picture of patience: the king met harm without anger.
In the Padma Purana, Krishna tells Yudhishthira that by this fast King Mandhata reached heaven, and King Dhundhumara and many other kings too. The text says that Shiva himself was freed by it from the skull of Brahma that clung to his hand, and that its worth equals ten thousand years of austerity; these are the text's own claims, not promises.
Then Krishna speaks about gifts, ranking them one above another: a horse, an elephant, land, sesame, gold, and above them all, food. Greater even than food, he says, is the gift of knowledge, teaching another person. The text also says a father should not take money for his daughter's marriage.
He also gives the old rules of the fast. The text says: on the day before, eat only once, and leave aside bell-metal dishes, meat, masur lentils, chickpeas, kodo millet, leafy greens, honey and food from another's house. On the Ekadashi itself, keep away from gambling, sleep in the day, betel, cleaning the teeth with a twig, gossip, theft, harm to others, anger and lies, and keep awake in the night with prayer.
About this telling
The tale of King Mandhata and the bear is told in present-day vrat-katha books and on many websites. The versions read for this page name no Purana for the tale; some say the day's teaching comes from the Bhavishya 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, name Mandhata only among the kings who reached heaven by this fast, which the last part above follows. The retelling of the tale is ours, from the facts the versions agree on. Versions differ in small ways: most say Vishnu killed the bear with his discus, and one names no form of Vishnu to worship.
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 50, 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 50, pp. 1354 (leaves n136))
- The tale of King Mandhata and the bear, 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 50. (pp. 1354 (leaves n136))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Varuthini Ekadashi in Washington DC: Monday, May 3, 2027, 6:08 AM – 8:55 AM. Break the fast after sunrise, 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.