सफला एकादशी व्रत कथा (पौषकृष्णपक्षः)

In the Brahmanda 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 40, where Krishna tells Yudhishthira of Prince Lumpaka. Chapter numbers differ between editions and translations, so treat this as a guide to that translation.

In the ancient city of Champavati, ruled the pious and powerful King Mahishman. He had four sons, the eldest of whom was named Lumpaka.

Lumpaka was wicked, depraved, and corrupt. He criticized learned saints and Brahmins, squandered royal wealth on vices, gambled, and disrespected Lord Vishnu.

Unable to tolerate his eldest son's relentless evil deeds, King Mahishman banished Lumpaka from the kingdom into the deep wilderness.

Abandoned by all friends, Lumpaka lived in the dense jungle, surviving by hunting forest animals and stealthily robbing travelers. At night, he took shelter beneath a massive, ancient Banyan (Vata) tree, unaware that the tree was sacred to Lord Vishnu.

As the cold winter month of Pausha arrived, on the tenth day (Dashami) of the dark fortnight, Lumpaka shivered violently in the freezing winter winds. Tormented by cold, he could neither sleep nor find food.

The next morning was Pausha Krishna Saphala Ekadashi.

By midday, paralyzed by intense cold and hunger, Lumpaka lost consciousness. When he regained his senses at sunset, his limbs were trembling so violently that he could not hunt or walk. He gathered a few wild fruits that had fallen to the ground, placed them at the base of the sacred Banyan tree, and wept bitterly in despair:

Throughout that freezing night, Lumpaka lay awake, shivering without food or water, weeping in repentance. Unconsciously, he had performed a complete waterless fast (Upavasa), offered fruit prasad to Lord Vishnu, and observed an unbroken night vigil (Jagaran) on Saphala Ekadashi!

The moment the sun rose on Dvadashi morning, by the boundless grace of Lord Vishnu, all of Lumpaka's past sins were incinerated!

Suddenly, a magnificent divine celestial horse with golden armor appeared before him, and a celestial voice proclaimed from the heavens:

Lumpaka transformed into a radiant, virtuous prince. Returning to Champavati, he was embraced with tears of joy by King Mahishman. Lumpaka was crowned king, ruled his kingdom with great virtue for many years, and at the end of his life, ascended to the supreme spiritual abode of Vaikuntha.

1. 1.Success in Endeavors (Sarva Karya Siddhi): Ensures success in exams, righteous projects, and spiritual sadhana.
2. 2.Offering of Fresh Fruits: Offer seasonal fruits (pomegranates, betel nuts, coconuts, citrus) and cloves to Lord Narayana.
3. 3.Lighting Ghee Lamps: Light lamps in temples and under sacred trees during the cold winter night.
4. 4.Dvadashi Parana: Conclude the fast on Dvadashi morning after feeding Brahmins.

A devotee who takes up Saphala Ekadashi with intention, unlike Lumpaka, begins with the Sankalpa, the dawn vow before Lord Narayana naming the fast and resolving to keep it, along with its Parana, without lapse. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that Lumpaka's night beneath the Banyan tree carried every element of the observance, the fruit offering, the waterless fast, the sleepless vigil, yet lacked only this one deliberate vow, and still the fast's merit reached him in full; the Sankalpa is what lets a devotee offer the same night knowingly rather than by accident of cold and hunger.

The fast calls for abstaining from grains from sunrise to sunrise, with fruit alone permitted for those who cannot keep the stricter nirjala discipline, exactly the offering that saved Lumpaka when he had nothing else to give. Worship of Lord Narayana is offered in the morning with seasonal fruits such as pomegranate, betel nut, coconut, and citrus, and repeated at dusk when ghee lamps are lit in temples and beneath sacred trees through the cold winter night.

The fast concludes with the Parana on Dvadashi morning, within the window the Panchanga, the traditional Hindu almanac, sets for that year, after bathing and giving what charity the devotee can before taking the first meal. It was on just such a Dvadashi dawn that Lumpaka's trembling body was made whole again, the same hour at which every devotee's fast is formally completed.

Saphala Ekadashi's teaching is carried in its own name, Saphala, meaning that which makes every righteous effort succeed. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that Lumpaka earned this success not through any plan or virtue of his own but through a single night in which cold and hunger left him no choice but to turn, weeping, toward Lord Vishnu with the only offering he had. The fast asks nothing more of any devotee than that same complete turning, however it comes about.