Amalaki Ekadashi Vrat Katha · आमलकी एकादशी व्रत कथा

The story of a sinful hunter who kept the night vigil of Amalaki Ekadashi by chance, and was reborn as King Vasuratha and saved from his enemies, retold from the published versions.

The story, retold

In the city of Vaidisha all four varnas lived happily, devoted to Vishnu, and everyone kept the Ekadashi fast. When the Amalaki Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Phalguna came, the king and all the people kept the fast, worshipped the amla tree at the temple and kept vigil through the night.

That night a hunter came to the temple, a sinful man who fed his family by killing animals. Hungry and thirsty, he sat in a corner to watch the vigil and listened to the stories of Vishnu and the glory of Ekadashi. So, like everyone else, he stayed awake all night. In the morning he went home and ate.

Some time later the hunter died. By the merit of that Amalaki Ekadashi vigil he was reborn as the son of King Viduratha, named Vasuratha, and grew up to be a king.

One day King Vasuratha went hunting, lost his way, and fell asleep under a tree in the forest. A band of mlecchas, whom he had driven from his land, found him alone and attacked him with their weapons. But the weapons fell on him like flowers, and soon all the attackers lay dead.

When the king woke, he wondered who had saved him. A voice from the sky said that it was Vishnu's grace. The king returned to his kingdom and ruled righteously.

The katha says that those who keep the Amalaki Ekadashi fast succeed in every task and at the end go to Vishnu's abode.

This katha is given as a retelling only: published versions tell it in different words and with different details, and we have not compared an original text for it. Every point in it appears in at least two of the published versions linked below.

About this text

Amalaki Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha) of Phalguna. Its story belongs to the series in which each Ekadashi's glory is told, often as Krishna's answer to the Pandavas. On this day the amla (Indian gooseberry) tree, dear to Vishnu, is worshipped along with him. It is also called Rangbhari Ekadashi.

The published versions are in Hindi prose and differ in wording and in some names and details. The retelling above keeps only what at least two of the versions linked below agree on. For this year's date, see Ekadashi.