Indira Ekadashi Vrat Katha (Pitru Paksha / Ashvina Krishna)

In the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and Padma Purana, King Yudhishthira asks Lord Sri Krishna:

Bhagwan Sri Krishna replied:

For readers who wish to consult the text: in the Uttara-Khanda (the concluding section) of the Padma Purana, as numbered in N. A. Deshpande's English translation, this Ekadashi is told in Chapter 58, where Krishna tells Yudhishthira of the sage Narada's visit to King Indrasena of Mahishmati. Chapter numbers differ between editions and translations, so treat this as a guide to that translation.

In ancient times, in the golden city of Mahishmatipuri, ruled the noble and pious King Indrasena, an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu.

One day, while King Indrasena was seated in his royal assembly, the divine sage Devarshi Narada descended from the skies playing his Veena.

King Indrasena prostrated with deep devotion, washed the sage's feet, and welcomed him with royal honors.

Devarshi Narada smiled and said:

King Indrasena was shocked and grieved:

Narada explained:

Hearing his father's plea, King Indrasena wept and asked:

Devarshi Narada instructed:

1. 1.Dashami Preparation: On the 10th day, bathe in a sacred river, perform ancestor tarpan, and take one simple satvik meal before sunset.
2. 2.Ekadashi Vow: On Ekadashi morning, bathe, worship the Shaligram deity of Lord Vishnu with Tulsi, and perform solemn ancestral Tarpan with black sesame seeds and water.
3. 3.Dedication of Fast (Punya-Arpan): Solemnly proclaim:

1. 4.Night Vigil: Spend the night chanting Lord Vishnu's names.

King Indrasena followed Devarshi Narada's instructions with exact devotion. On Ashvina Krishna Ekadashi, the King, his queens, ministers, and citizens observed a strict fast, worshipped Lord Shaligram, and dedicated the merit to his departed father.

The moment the prayer concluded, celestial flowers showered from the sky!

King Indrasena saw his father manifest in a radiant, luminous celestial form dressed in yellow silks, crowned with celestial jewels.

Ascending into a divine celestial chariot (Vimana) surrounded by Gandharvas, the father blessed King Indrasena:

King Indrasena ruled his kingdom righteously for many years and, at the end of his life, ascended to Vaikuntha alongside his royal household.

1. 1.Pitru Paksha Liberation: The most potent fast during the 16-day ancestor period for delivering departed souls from karmic distress.
2. 2.Worship of Lord Shaligram: Perform Abhishek of the Shaligram stone with milk, honey, and Ganga water, offering fresh Tulsi leaves.
3. 3.Sesame Tarpan & Anna Daan: Offer water and black sesame seeds (Til-Jal) for ancestors and feed cows, crows, and Brahmins.
4. 4.Dvadashi Parana: Conclude the fast early on Dvadashi after offering morning food to Brahmins.

Before the Dashami-day preparations even begin, the householder takes the Sankalpa, a spoken vow before the family shrine or at the riverbank, naming Indira Ekadashi, naming the ancestor for whom the merit is intended, and resolving to carry the fast through to its Parana without lapse. This vow is what transforms an ordinary day of restraint into a formal offering that scripture holds can reach a soul in Yamaloka; without it, Narada tells the King, the fast is merely austerity, not dedication.

The Dashami meal, the Ekadashi fast itself, and the Shaligram worship each have their own window. Dashami's single satvik meal must be taken before sunset, so that the body enters Ekadashi already light; the Ekadashi puja is best performed at dawn, repeated again toward dusk when the household gathers for Tarpan and the night vigil of chanting. Observing the fast and the worship outside these windows, Narada warns, weakens the merit that is meant to travel all the way to the ancestor waiting in Yamaloka.

Indira Ekadashi carries a teaching distinct from Ekadashis that promise wealth or a child: it insists that the living owe something to the dead, and that devotion, rightly dedicated, can cross the boundary between the two. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that King Indrasena's fast did not simply please Lord Vishnu in the abstract; its entire merit was aimed, through the Sankalpa, the Tarpan, and the night of chanting, at a single suffering soul, and it reached him. The katha asks every devotee who keeps this fast to remember that their most ordinary act of restraint, offered with a clear intention, may be the very thing an ancestor is waiting for.