Parivartini (Parsva / Vamana) Ekadashi Vrat Katha

In the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and Padma Purana, King Yudhishthira inquires of 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 57, which treats this Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi under the name Padma, with Brahma narrating to Narada an account of King Mandhata. The Vamana and Bali account told below comes from the wider Vamana tradition and is not part of that chapter's story. Chapter numbers differ between editions and translations, so treat this as a guide to that translation.

In the Treta Yuga, the great demon emperor King Bali, grandson of the saintly Bhakta Prahlada, conquered all three worlds through immense austerities and 100 Ashvamedha sacrifices. Displacing Indra and the devas, Bali took possession of Svargaloka.

The mother of the devas, Aditi, performed the rigorous Payovrata fast, a vow of subsisting on milk alone, to please Lord Vishnu. Pleased by her devotion, Lord Vishnu took birth from Aditi and Sage Kashyapa as the divine dwarf Brahmin incarnation, Lord Vamana.

Dressed as a radiant Brahmachari holding a wooden umbrella (Chhatra), a water pitcher (Kamandalu), and wearing a sacred belt of Kusha grass, young Lord Vamana walked to King Bali's sacrificial arena on the banks of the Narmada river.

King Bali welcomed the radiant dwarf boy with utmost reverence, washed His lotus feet, and offered:

Lord Vamana smiled gently and replied:

King Bali laughed and agreed. Even when his royal preceptor Guru Shukracharya warned him that the boy was Lord Vishnu in disguise, King Bali refused to break his word:

As Bali poured water to solemnize the charity, Lord Vamana began to expand exponentially into His colossal cosmic form, Trivikrama:

1. 1.With His first step, the Lord covered the entire earth, oceans, and lower realms.
2. 2.With His second step, the Lord's foot expanded through the heavens, piercing the outer shell of the universe (from which the sacred Ganga manifested from Brahma's washings of the Lord's lotus toe).
3. 3.The Lord then turned to King Bali:

Humbled in total surrender (Atma-Nivedana), King Bali bowed his head with folded hands:

Placing His divine foot upon Bali's head, Lord Vishnu pushed him gently into the subterranean realm of Sutala Loka, crowning him king of that celestial paradise and promising to stand personally as the eternal guardian at Bali's palace gates.

1. 1.Worship of Lord Vamana: Worship Lord Vishnu in the Vamana / Trivikrama form with rice, curd, and seasonal fruits.
2. 2.Turning of the Lord: Meditate upon Lord Vishnu turning on His side in the Ocean of Milk.
3. 3.Donation of Curd & Grains: Donating curd, silver umbrellas, and food grains on this day brings boundless merit.
4. 4.Dvadashi Parana: Conclude the fast early on Dvadashi morning after worship and feeding Brahmins.

As with every Ekadashi, the observance of Parivartini opens with the Sankalpa, a vow spoken at dawn before an image of Lord Vamana or Trivikrama, naming the fast and resolving to carry it through to its Parana. King Bali's own surrender in the sacrificial arena mirrors this structure in miniature: a vow spoken aloud, in public, that could not be taken back once water had sealed it, which is exactly the seriousness the Sankalpa asks of every devotee who makes it.

The fast calls for abstaining from rice and heavy grains from sunrise to sunrise, with curd and seasonal fruit permitted for those unable to keep a stricter discipline. Worship of Lord Vishnu in His Vamana and Trivikrama forms is offered in the morning and repeated at dusk, when the household meditates on the Lord turning from His left side to His right as He rests on Sheshanaga in the Ocean of Milk during these four months of Chaturmas.

The fast concludes with the Parana on Dvadashi morning, within the window the Panchanga sets for that year, after Lord Vamana has been worshipped and Brahmins have been fed. Devotees are encouraged to donate curd, a silver umbrella, or food grains on this day, small echoes of the three paces of land that undid an empire the moment it was given freely.

Parivartini Ekadashi's teaching rests on the gap between what King Bali offered and what he actually lost: three paces of land, freely promised, became the whole of creation, and yet Bali rose rather than fell, crowned king of Sutala with the Lord himself standing guard at his gate. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that true surrender is never measured by what is given up, but by the completeness of the giving, and that a vow kept honestly, even to one's own eventual undoing, is answered by a grace no calculation could have obtained.