01What Saphala Ekadashi is
Saphala Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Margashirsha in the amanta calendar, which purnimanta calendars place in Pausha. It is kept in December or early January, in the coldest weeks of the North Indian winter. Saphala means fruitful, and the tradition reads the name in two ways: as the day that makes effort bear fruit, and literally, since fruit is its particular offering. The account is told by Krishna to Yudhishthira, and the day is given to Vishnu as Narayana.
Calendars that end the month at the new moon (amanta, used in the south and west) name it the Krishna Ekadashi of Margashirsha; those that end it at the full moon (purnimanta, used in the north) name it the Krishna Ekadashi of Pausha. It is the same day.
02The story told of it
King Mahishmata of Champavati had a wayward eldest son, Lumpaka, who wasted the treasury and mistreated the people until his father sent him away. Lumpaka lived in the forest beneath an old peepal tree, taking what he could. On the Dashami of this fortnight the cold left him too numb to eat or sleep, and on the Ekadashi he gathered fruit, offered it at the foot of the tree to Vishnu and kept awake through the night. The account says this unknowing fast changed him, and he returned home and ruled well.
03How the fast is kept
The fast is the ordinary one, from sunrise to the next day's parana, with grains and beans left out even in the lighter forms. What is particular to Saphala is the offering of seasonal fruit to Vishnu, such as oranges, guavas, berries, coconut and pomegranate, and the lighting of lamps; some families light many lamps in the evening and keep a night vigil, as Lumpaka did. Because the night is cold, the tradition commends giving blankets and warm clothing as the day's charity.
What is eaten on the fast
Commonly eaten- Fruit
- Milk, curd and paneer
- Nuts and dry fruit
- Sabudana
- Kuttu and singhara flour
- Potato and sweet potato
- Sendha namak (rock salt)
Commonly left out- Rice
- Wheat and other grains
- Dal and beans
- Onion and garlic
- Ordinary salt, in many homes
Families choose the strictness that suits them. Anyone who is unwell, pregnant or elderly keeps a lighter form.
04When to break the fast
The fast is broken on the morning after, the Dwadashi, and the tradition sets three limits on when. It must be after sunrise. It must not fall in Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi. And it must be inside Dwadashi itself, ideally in Pratahkal, the first fifth of the daylight, and not in Madhyahna, the middle fifth. This time Hari Vasara ends at 10:41 PM on 3 January, before sunrise, so parana runs from sunrise at 7:14 AM to the end of Pratahkal at 9:19 AM on 4 January.
- Sunrise7:14 AM on 4 Jan
- Hari Vasara ends10:41 PM on 3 January
- Parana window7:14 – 9:19 AM
- Dwadashi ends6:16 PM on 4 January
05Why 3 January
- In Delhi: It is kept on 3 January because the Ekadashi tithi is current at sunrise that morning (7:14 AM).
Two things move an Ekadashi. The first is your city: the day is decided by sunrise, and sunrise in India differs by more than an hour from Kolkata to Ahmedabad, so a city can keep an Ekadashi a day apart from another when the tithi changes near dawn. Change the city above to see yours. The second is the tradition: the dates here are the Smarta ones most households follow. Vaishnava calendars, ISKCON's among them, judge the day from arunodaya, about an hour and a half before sunrise, and sometimes keep the fast a day later.
06Saphala Ekadashi in other years
- 2027Sunday, 3 January · parana 7:14 – 9:19 AM
- 2027Thursday, 23 December · parana 7:11 – 9:15 AM
- 2028Tuesday, 12 December · parana 7:05 – 9:09 AM
