पद्मिनी एकादशी व्रत कथा (अधिक मास शुक्ल एकादशी) · Padmini Ekadashi Vrat Katha (Adhik Maas Shukla Ekadashi)

When Arjuna asked, Bhagwan Krishna said that the Ekadashi falling in the bright fortnight of Adhik Maas (Purushottam Maas) is called Padmini Ekadashi. Whoever observes its vow attains Bhagwan Vishnu's abode, has their accumulated sins destroyed, and gains both liberation and devotion. Its procedure is this — beginning restraint from Dashami, on the morning of Ekadashi one should complete the daily rites and go to a sacred bathing place, bathing with cow-dung, clay, sesame seeds, kusha grass, and amla powder. Before entering the water, one applies clay to the body and offers a prayer honoring its purity, then recites the mantra of the water-deity Varuna — mentally invoking all the sacred tirthas if none is physically available — before bathing.

After bathing, one should wear clean garments, perform sandhya and tarpan, and then go to the temple to worship Bhagwan with incense, a lamp, food offerings, flowers, and saffron, along with dance and song, and hear Puranic discourses in the company of devotees. This vow should be kept waterless as far as possible; those unable to do so may take water or light food. Keeping vigil through all four watches of the night, one should offer, in turn, a coconut, a bael fruit, a custard-apple, and betel-nut with orange — said to yield merit equal to the Agnihotra, Vajapeya yajna, Ashwamedha yajna, and Rajasuya yajna respectively. No other yajna, tapasya, dana, or merit equals this vow. One should stay awake until sunrise, bathe again, and feed Brahmins. Bhagwan Krishna says that such a devotee enjoys happiness in this world and ultimately attains Bhagwan Vishnu's supreme abode.

Bhagwan Krishna then told Arjuna a story that the great sage Pulastya had once related to Narada. Kartavirya had taken Ravana captive, and freed him only at sage Pulastya's request. Hearing this, Narada was astonished that Ravana — who had defeated even the gods and Indra — could be overcome by Kartavirya, and he asked Pulastya the reason. Pulastya explained that King Kritavirya had a hundred queens, yet none had borne him a son fit to inherit the throne. Despite consulting scholars and performing many yajnas, no child was born, and the whole kingdom grew despondent for want of an heir.

Finally concluding that only tapasya could help, King Kritavirya went to the forest; his queen Pramada, daughter of King Harishchandra, gave up all her adornments and joined him on Mount Gandhamadan. For ten thousand years the two performed severe austerity, but nothing came of it — the king's body wasted to skin and bone. Distressed, Queen Pramada went to the supremely devoted Anasuya and asked why, after such long penance, they remained childless. Anasuya explained that Adhik Maas, which occurs roughly every three years, contains two Ekadashis — Padmini in the bright fortnight and Parama in the dark — and that observing this vow with a night vigil would surely bring the blessing of a son. Anasuya taught Pramada the full procedure of the vow, and the queen observed it with devotion.

Pleased by the vow, Bhagwan Vishnu appeared and offered a boon. Queen Pramada asked that the boon be given to her husband instead. Bhagwan Vishnu, satisfied by the queen's devotion, told the king to ask for a boon. King Kritavirya asked for a supremely mighty son, worshipped by the whole world, who could not be defeated by gods, demons, or men — Bhagwan alone excepted. Bhagwan Vishnu said 'tathastu' (so be it) and vanished, and the couple returned to their city. From this very boon was born the son named Kartavirya, who in time, by that same unconquerable power, defeated Ravana and held him captive — all made possible by the power of the Padmini Ekadashi vow. Having told this story, sage Pulastya departed. Bhagwan Krishna told Arjuna: O Arjuna, thus have I told you the complete account of the Ekadashi of Adhik Maas Shukla Paksha (Purushottam Maas); whoever observes this vow attains Bhagwan Vishnu's abode.