Aparā Ekādaśī

Please check the date and time for Ekādaśī in your area using below sites.

https://www.vaisnavacalendar.info/

https://vaishnavacalendar.org/

https://www.drikpanchang.com/iskcon/iskcon-ekadashi-list.html

How to perform Ekādaśī

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 12

Observe fasting on Ekādaśī day (this occurs on the eleventh day after the full moon and the eleventh day after the new moon). On such days no grains, cereals or beans are eaten; simply vegetables and milk are moderately taken, and the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and reading of scriptures are increased.

Meditations on this auspicious day

Civilization and Transcendence, Chapter 8

Tapasya applies to diet, to personal behavior, to dealings with others, and so on and so forth. In every aspect of life, there is tapasya. That is all described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Mental tapasya. Bodily tapasya. Verbal tapasya – controlling vaco-vegam, the urge to talk loosely or whimsically. You cannot talk nonsense. If you talk, you must talk about Kṛṣṇa. That is tapasya. There is also tapasya in connection with krodha-vegam, the urge to express one’s anger. If one becomes angry and wants to express it by beating someone or doing something very violent, tapasya will restrict him – “No, don’t do it.” There is also tapasya with regards to the tongue, belly, and genitals. One cannot eat anything and everything, or at any time he pleases. Nor can one have sex freely, but only according to the scriptural injunctions. “I am sexually inclined, but I cannot do it. This is not the time.” That is tapasya.

So, one should practice tapasya in every way – in body, mind, words, personal behavior, and dealings with others. That is human life. Tapo divyam: if you want to simply be a human being, and especially if you want to make progress in spiritual life, you must act according to the śāstric injunctions. That means tapasya. Before Brahmā could take part in creation, he had to undergo tapasya. Is it not stated in the śāstra? Yes. So tapasya is essential. You cannot avoid it.

And what is the aim of performing tapasya? The aim is to please the Supreme Lord through the spiritual master. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo: “One can attain the mercy of the Lord only by attaining the mercy of the spiritual master.” This is the idea.

"Even when there's some kind of tapasya we have to undergo because of our situation in this material body, it's purifying actually. Ultimately, there's a way in which when we go through trouble, we get purified. The world's set up in such a way. To refine us, to bring us to a higher sense of our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It's a matter of perspective. And those who are devotees, and are able to develop this perspective, it gives an opportunity to take more shelter of the Lord."

Story of Aparā Ekādaśī

Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-Khaṇḍa, Chapter 50

Once King Yudhiṣṭhira turned to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, his heart filled with a deep yearning to benefit his people. With folded hands and humility, he asked:“O Janārdana, please enlighten me—what is the name of the Ekādaśī that falls in the dark half of the month of Jyeṣṭha? I desire to understand its greatness.”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa smiled with affection and replied: “O noble king, your question is truly virtuous, for it arises from your desire to uplift humanity. The Ekādaśī you speak of is called Aparā Ekādaśī. It is most powerful and grants inexhaustible merit to those who observe it sincerely.

Anyone who faithfully undertakes the vow of Aparā becomes glorious in this world. Even those burdened with the heaviest of sins—like one who has slain a brāhmaṇa, destroyed his own family, caused an abortion, spoken ill of others, or coveted another’s wife—can become purified by observing this sacred day. O king, even those who lie in court, use false weights and measures, recite unauthoritative scriptures, deceive as astrologers or physicians, or are involved in fraud—all of them are destined for hell. But the merciful Aparā Ekādaśī delivers even such souls from their sins and suffering.

Consider a kṣatriya who abandons the battlefield and thus forsakes his sacred duty. He falls from his caste and is plunged into a terrifying hell. Yet, by the grace of this Ekādaśī, even he can rise again and attain heaven. Similarly, a learned disciple who has offended his guru, though condemned, may be redeemed through the observance of this vow.

Now, O king, listen to the true greatness of Aparā Ekādaśī. The merit earned by observing this vow is equal to that gained by bathing at Prayāga during the holy month of Māgha when the Sun enters Makara. It is equal to the reward of bathing at Kāśī during a lunar or solar eclipse, or of offering piṇḍas to ancestors at Gayā. It matches the pious fruit of bathing in the sacred Gautamī River when Bṛhaspati (Jupiter) is in the sign of Siṃha, or in the Kṛṣṇaveṇī River when Jupiter is in Kanyā. It rivals the result of beholding the holy Kumbhakedāra, or the pilgrimage to Badaryāśrama and the visits to all its sanctified places. One gains equal merit as that earned by bathing at Kurukṣetra when the Sun is in an auspicious position, or by performing grand sacrifices involving gifts of elephants, horses, or gold.

In truth, a single observance of Aparā Ekādaśī grants the same fruit as gifting a cow just after it has calved or donating gold or fertile land to a worthy brāhmaṇa. This sacred day acts like an axe that chops down the tree of sin, like a blazing wildfire that consumes the dry wood of offenses. It is the sun that dispels the darkness of wrongdoing, the lion that slays the timid deer of sin. Those who ignore this Ekādaśī are like bubbles upon water, doomed to burst and disappear; like ants, they live and die without significance. But those who fast on Aparā and worship Lord Viṣṇu with devotion are freed from all sins and are joyfully welcomed into Viṣṇu’s eternal abode.

O king, I have revealed this divine truth for the welfare of all. Even simply hearing or recounting the glories of Aparā Ekādaśī grants the merit of gifting a thousand cows to the learned brāhmaṇas.”