Nirjala Ekadashi: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Nirjala Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Jyeshtha, in the hottest weeks of early summer. "Nirjala" means "without water": the strictest devotees keep this one Ekadashi of the year without food and without water, from sunrise until the fast is broken (parana) the next day. It is also called Bhimseni or Pandava Ekadashi, after the story of Bhima.

It is also a day of giving water. In North India people set up stalls that give cool water and sweet drinks to passers-by, and families give pitchers of water, fans, umbrellas, fruit and grain to others. Many who cannot keep the full fast keep a lighter one, and still give water to someone who needs it.

Why it is kept

Bhima's question. A well-known telling in the Ekadashi stories, which ascribe it to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, says that Bhima, the strongest of the five Pandavas, could not bear to go hungry. His mother Kunti, his brothers and Draupadi kept every Ekadashi, but Bhima could not keep even one. He asked the sage Vyasa what he could do. Vyasa told him to keep just one Ekadashi of the year, the bright Ekadashi of Jyeshtha, without food or even water. The telling says that this one fast, kept with faith, brings the merit of all the Ekadashis of the year; that is the tradition's own claim, told here as tradition. Bhima kept it, and the day took his name.

Ekadashi and Vishnu. Ekadashi, the eleventh day of each half of the moon, is a day of fasting and prayer to Vishnu all through the year. Nirjala is the most demanding of them, kept by many families who keep no other.

Water in the heat. Because it falls in the hottest season, giving water is part of the day. The Ekadashi stories praise gifts of water, and families keep the custom as simple kindness to people, animals and birds in the heat.

The texts behind the story

• The story of Bhima and the Jyeshtha Shukla Ekadashi, as told in the Puranic Ekadashi stories (vrat-katha collections), which ascribe it to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana; Wikipedia, "Nirjala Ekadashi", gives the same source. Tradition, summarised in our own words; no Purana text was read.

When it is kept

Nirjala Ekadashi is the Shukla Ekadashi of Jyeshtha, kept on the Ekadashi fast day of your tradition. Smarta rule, as in the Nirnayasindhu and Dharmasindhu: fast on the day on which Ekadashi is present at sunrise at your location. If it is present at two sunrises, families fast on the first day; the second is for sannyasis. If Dvadashi will be over by the sunrise after that day, householders fast on the day Ekadashi begins, even though Dashami is present at its sunrise. Vaishnava rule, as computed by the GCal program: Ekadashi must already be present at arunodaya, 96 minutes before sunrise; if Dashami still touches that time, the fast moves to the next day. In some years one of GCal's eight Mahadvadashi rules moves the fast to Dvadashi, and the app names that Mahadvadashi. The fast is broken on the next day within the parana window the app shows. Each tradition has its own parana rule, and the window usually opens after sunrise and after the first quarter of Dvadashi. The Smarta rule avoids parana at midday (madhyahna), so in some years its window is in the afternoon. In a year with an extra (adhika) Jyeshtha, Nirjala falls in the regular (nija) month. The app treats Nirjala as this Ekadashi fast day because published calendars do; no text was read for that choice.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Nirjala Ekadashi 2027: Nirjala Ekadashi falls on Monday, June 14, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule, computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Smarta (Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu): Ekadashi at sunrise; if Dvadashi is lost, householders fast on the day Ekadashi begins
• Vaishnava (GCal): Ekadashi at arunodaya; a Mahadvadashi can move the fast to Dvadashi; often the day after the Smarta date

Why the day can differ

The Smarta and Vaishnava rules often give different days, a day apart, and the app shows both. Sunrise is local, so cities can differ too. The parana time depends on your sunrise, on the length of the day and on when Dvadashi begins and ends; check it before you plan the next day.

How to keep it at home

1. On the evening before (Dashami), eat a light meal with no grains or beans, and drink enough water. Make a sankalpa for the fast you will keep: waterless, with water, or with fruit.
2. In the morning, bathe and worship Vishnu with tulsi leaves, yellow flowers, a lamp and incense. Prayers often said: the Vishnu Sahasranama, "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya" and the Nirjala Ekadashi vrat katha.
3. Give water: set out cool water for passers-by, birds or animals, or give water, fruit, a fan or an umbrella to someone who needs it. Many families give to a food bank or a temple kitchen.
4. Spend the day quietly, in prayer and reading, and stay out of the heat. Many keep awake in the night with bhajans.
5. The next day, after a bath and a short prayer, break the fast within the parana window shown in the app (in some years it is in the afternoon), first with water, then with a little prasad.

Fasting

The strictest custom is no food and no water from sunrise until parana. Many devotees keep the day with water, or with fruit and milk, and in many families this is how the day is kept. The Mahabharata counts water, roots, fruit, milk, ghee and medicine among eight things that do not break a vow (Udyoga Parva, in Ganguli's translation). Families do not expect children, the very old, the unwell, or pregnant or nursing women to keep it without water. Anyone who is pregnant, nursing, diabetic, unwell, elderly or on regular medicine should not keep a waterless fast, and should talk to a doctor before fasting at all.

Food

No grains or beans on Ekadashi. For those not keeping a waterless fast: fruit, milk, curd and sweet drinks such as sharbat or lassi. After parana, a light meal; many families share mangoes and cool drinks with others.

For children

Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers, was very strong and always very hungry. His family fasted twice a month, but Bhima just could not. So he asked the wise sage Vyasa for help. Vyasa smiled and said, "Then keep just one day, but keep it with your whole heart." Bhima did. On this day families remember Bhima, and everyone, big and small, can do something kind, like giving cool water to someone on a hot day.

Something to do together

With a grown-up, fill a bowl with fresh water and put it outside for birds, or make a jug of cool lemonade to share with the family or a neighbour.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules nirjala-ekadashi and ekadashi (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each lists and the dates checked in packages/panchang/test/festivals-added.test.ts.
• A. Hudli, Ekadashi rules from the Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu and Kala-Madhava (Advaita-L, 2010), the engine's source for the Smarta rule.
• Vaisnava Events Calculation in GCAL (GCal algorithm documentation, 2008), the engine's source for the Vaishnava rule.
• The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Virata Parva and Udyoga Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1886) (Udyoga Parva, Prajagara Parva, Section XXXVIII (XXXIX in the Project Gutenberg e-text), p. 126 (leaf n345): eight things that do not break a vow)
• The Folklore of Bombay, by R. E. Enthoven (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923) (p. 56 (leaf n60): when Ekadashi falls on two days, the first day is kept by Smartas)

Related guides

• Dev Uthani Ekadashi (Prabodhini Ekadashi)
• Vaikuntha Ekadashi