Nirjala Ekadashi Vrat Katha

Once the sage Vedavyasa was speaking to the Pandavas about the Ekadashi fast. Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Draupadi and Mother Kunti all kept the fast on every Ekadashi. Only Bhimasena could not.

Bhima said humbly to Vyasa: "Grandfather, my brothers and mother tell me not to eat on Ekadashi. I can worship, I can give gifts, but I cannot stay hungry. A fire called Vrika burns in my stomach, and it is calmed only when I eat a great deal. I can barely manage a single meal a day, let alone fast. Tell me one fast, kept once a year, that will bring me the merit of all the Ekadashis."

Vyasa said: "Bhima, if you wish to reach heaven and avoid hell, there is a way. In the month of Jyeshtha, when the sun is in Taurus or Gemini, keep the fast of the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight without even water. Water may touch your lips only for achamana, no more than a drop. From the sunrise of Ekadashi to the sunrise of Dwadashi, take neither food nor water. On Dwadashi, bathe, worship the Lord, feed Brahmins and give gifts, and then eat yourself."

Vyasa told him that whoever keeps this one fast in this way receives the merit of all twenty-four Ekadashis of the year, and at death is welcomed not by Yama's messengers but by the messengers of Lord Vishnu.

Bhimasena kept the fast as Vyasa had said, without water, through the long hot day. Since then this Ekadashi has been called Bhimseni or Pandava Ekadashi. On this day people give water-filled pots, fans, umbrellas, clothes and food in charity, and offer water to the thirsty.