Dev Uthani Ekadashi Vrat Katha · देवउठनी एकादशी व्रत कथा

The Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Kartika is the day Vishnu wakes from his four-month sleep. Its fast is said to destroy great sins; keeping vigil through its night, with songs and stories of the Lord, wipes out even the gravest of them. Things given up during Chaturmas may be taken again from this day.

The story told for this Ekadashi is of a king in whose kingdom everyone kept the Ekadashi fast, and no one, not even a servant, was given grain on that day. A man from another land came asking for work, and the king took him on, on the condition that he would get no grain on Ekadashi. He agreed. But when Ekadashi came and he was given only fruit, he begged the king for grain, saying he would die of hunger. At last the king gave him flour, lentils and rice.

The man went to the river, bathed, cooked his meal and called out, "Come, Lord, the food is ready." Vishnu came in his four-armed form and ate with him lovingly, and then vanished.

At the next Ekadashi the man asked for twice as much, explaining that the Lord ate with him and there had not been enough for both. The king could not believe it: he fasted and worshipped so much, yet the Lord had never appeared to him. So he hid behind a tree to watch. This time the man cooked and called until evening, but the Lord did not come. At last he said that if the Lord did not come he would throw himself into the river, and he set off to do so. At once Vishnu appeared, stopped him and sat down to eat with him, and then took him to his own abode.

Seeing this, the king understood that fasting brings no fruit unless the heart is pure. From then on he kept the fast with a true heart, and at the end reached heaven.

Dev Uthani Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha) of Kartika. Its story belongs to the series in which each Ekadashi's glory is told, often as Krishna's answer to the Pandavas. It is also called Prabodhini ("the awakening") and Devutthana Ekadashi. On this day Vishnu is said to wake from his four-month sleep, Chaturmas ends, and in many homes Tulsi Vivah is celebrated.

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 Dev Uthani Ekadashi.

The katha is read or heard on Dev Uthani Ekadashi as part of the worship of Vishnu. Customs vary by family and region.