Shravana Putrada Ekadashi Vrat Katha · श्रावण पुत्रदा एकादशी व्रत कथा

King Mahijit was a just and generous ruler who cared for his people like his own children, yet he had no son, and despite all his power and wealth this grieved him deeply. He sought help from many saints and sages without success.

At last the sage Lomash, looking with his divine sight into the king's past, explained the cause. In a former life the king had been a merchant. One day, tormented by thirst, he had come to a pond where a cow was drinking, and selfishly drove her away so that he could drink all the water himself. Because of that deed he was now childless, though his other good deeds had made him a king.

Asked how this could be undone, Lomash told them to keep the fast of the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Shravana, called Putrada, the giver of sons. The fast was kept with devotion, as the sage directed, and by its merit the queen bore a radiant son, who became heir to the kingdom.

The katha ends by saying that those who wish for a child should keep this fast.

Shravana Putrada Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha) of Shravana. Its story belongs to the series in which each Ekadashi's glory is told, often as Krishna's answer to the Pandavas. There are two Putrada Ekadashis in the year, this one in Shravana and the other in Pausha, and both are kept especially by those who pray for a child.

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 Shravana Putrada Ekadashi.

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