Shravana Putrada Ekadashi Vrat Katha

Yudhishthira asked Shri Krishna about the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Shravana. Krishna said that it is called Putrada, the giver of sons, and told this story.

In the Dvapara yuga, King Mahijit ruled the city of Mahishmati. He cared for his people like his own children, but he had no son, and this made him very sad. He called his ministers and the learned men of the kingdom and said: "I have never taken anything unjustly and have ruled by dharma. Why am I childless?"

To find the answer, the ministers and elders went into the forest to look for a sage who could tell them. They found the great sage Lomasha, who knew the past and the future, and told him of the king's sorrow.

Lomasha closed his eyes and saw the king's past life. He told them: "In his last life the king was a poor merchant. Once, travelling on business, he came to a pond, tired and thirsty after a whole day without food or water, on the Dwadashi of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha. A cow that had just calved came to drink there, thirsty from the heat. He drove the cow away and drank the water himself. Because he kept a thirsty cow from water, he is childless in this life, though his other good deeds made him a king."

The ministers asked how this fault could be removed. The sage said: "In the bright fortnight of Shravana comes Putrada Ekadashi. Let all of you, with the people, keep its fast with devotion, stay awake through the night, and give its merit to the king. Then he will surely have a son."

The ministers and people did as the sage said and gave the merit of the fast to the king. By its power the queen conceived and in time gave birth to a radiant son.

Shri Krishna said that whoever keeps this fast is blessed with children and happiness here, and heaven hereafter.