Amalaki Ekadashi Vrat Katha

Yudhishthira asked Shri Krishna about the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Phalguna. Krishna said that it is called Amalaki, and told the story that the sage Vasishtha once told King Mandhata. The amla tree, he said, is dear to Lord Vishnu, and the Lord dwells in it.

Long ago the city of Vaidisha was ruled by King Chaitraratha of the Lunar dynasty. In his kingdom everyone, rich and poor, kept the Ekadashi fast, and no one was poor or unhappy.

When Amalaki Ekadashi came, the king and all his people went to the temple by the river. There they placed a pot of water beside an amla tree and worshipped Lord Vishnu, in his Parashurama form, and the amla tree with incense, lamps, flowers and offerings, singing the Lord's praises. They stayed awake all night in prayer.

That night a hunter came by. He was a sinful man who lived by killing animals, and he was tired and hungry, having had no food all day. Seeing the lamps and the crowd, he sat down in a corner, hoping to get something to eat. Sitting there, he watched the worship, heard the story of Ekadashi and the Lord's name, and stayed awake the whole night. In the morning, when the people went home, he too went home and ate.

Some time later the hunter died. By the merit of that night's unknowing fast and vigil, he was reborn as Vasuratha, the son of King Viduratha of Jayanti, and became a powerful and righteous king.

One day King Vasuratha lost his way in the forest and fell asleep under a tree. A band of fierce mlechchha tribesmen, whom he had once punished, came upon him and attacked him with their weapons. But the weapons fell harmlessly from his body, as if they were flowers. Then a beautiful, radiant goddess came forth from the king's body and killed the attackers. When the king woke and saw them dead, a voice from the sky told him that Lord Vishnu had protected him, by the merit of the Amalaki Ekadashi he had kept in his past life.

Vasishtha told Mandhata that whoever keeps this fast reaches the abode of Lord Vishnu.