Indira Ekadashi Vrat Katha

Yudhishthira asked Shri Krishna about the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight of Ashwin. Krishna said that it is called Indira, that it destroys great sins and lifts even ancestors who have fallen to lower worlds, and told this story.

In the Satya yuga, King Indrasena ruled the city of Mahishmati. He was a devotee of Lord Vishnu, ruled by dharma and lived happily with his children and grandchildren.

One day, while the king sat in his court, the sage Narada came down from the sky. The king welcomed him with honour and asked the reason for his visit. Narada said: "O king, I recently went to the realm of Yama, and there I saw your father. Because of a fault in keeping an Ekadashi fast in his life, he has to stay there. He sent you this message: 'Son, keep the fast of Indira Ekadashi in the dark fortnight of Ashwin and give its merit to me, so that I may be freed and go to heaven.'"

The king was moved and asked Narada how to keep the fast. Narada told him: on Dashami bathe and eat only once; on Ekadashi take the vow of fasting, perform the shraddha for the ancestors at midday with devotion, feed Brahmins, give the pinda to a cow, and worship Lord Vishnu as Shaligram; stay awake through the night; and on Dwadashi, after worship and feeding Brahmins, break the fast with the family.

Indrasena kept the Indira Ekadashi fast exactly as Narada had told him, with his family and servants. Flowers rained from the sky, and by the merit of his son's fast the king's father rode Garuda to the abode of Vishnu. Indrasena ruled without trouble for many years, and at the end of his life he too went to heaven.

Shri Krishna said that whoever keeps this fast, or hears this story, is freed from sins and brings peace to their ancestors.