📖 Mokshada Ekadashi (Gita Jayanti) 2026
Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi — the fast that grants liberation to the ancestors; on this day Shri Krishna spoke the Gita to Arjuna at Kurukshetra.
- Mokshada Ekadashi / Gita Jayanti — fast — Sunday, 20 December 2026
- Dwadashi — paran — Monday, 21 December 2026
Mokshada Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the Shukla Paksha of Margashirsha (Agahan) month. The name says it — 'the giver of moksha'; it is believed that offering the merit of this fast to one's ancestors brings them liberation. On this same day, on the first day of the Mahabharata war, Shri Krishna spoke the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna — so it is also Gita Jayanti.
Women of the house keep the fast, worship Vishnu and read or listen to the Gita (at least one chapter); charity and tarpan are done for the ancestors. Below are this year's date, paran, vidhi, samagri, katha, fasting food and regional customs.
Significance — why this vrat
The Padma Purana calls it the 'moksha-giving' Ekadashi among all — liberation for the vrati's ancestors as well. Those who feel their ancestors are restless, or who missed a shraddha, keep this fast with special care.
Gita Jayanti — a grand festival at Kurukshetra, Gita recitation, 'Shrimad Bhagavad Gita ki jai'; at home reading one of the 18 chapters (usually the 12th, Bhakti Yoga, or the 15th, Purushottama Yoga) is considered enough.
Krishna said of Margashirsha 'masanam Margashirsho'ham' — it is his own month; its Shukla Ekadashi is specially fruitful. The paran of the Ekadashi fast is on the next day, Dwadashi — the date is above.
Puja vidhi (step by step)
This is the usual household Ekadashi vidhi — restraint from Dashami evening, fast-puja-Gita on Ekadashi, paran on Dwadashi.
- Sattvik food and celibacy on the night of Dashami; on Ekadashi bathe before sunrise, wear yellow, take the sankalp — 'I keep the Mokshada Ekadashi vrat for my own welfare and that of my ancestors.'
- Worship of Vishnu/Lakshmi-Narayana — panchamrit bath, yellow flowers, Tulsi leaves, sandalwood, incense and lamp, naivedya (fruit and sweets); 108 chants of 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'.
- Gita reading — one chapter (12th/15th) or the whole Gita, with the family seated together; worship the Gita book with flowers and sandalwood, 'Gita aarti'.
- For the ancestors: tarpan of water and sesame facing south, donation of grain, clothes and blankets to a Brahmin/the needy, fodder to a cow — speak the sankalp of offering the merit of the fast to the ancestors.
- Fruit/waterless all day (as strength allows); no sleeping in the day, bhajan-kirtan; in the evening a lamp at the Tulsi platform and Vishnu aarti.
- Night vigil (if possible) — Gita/Vishnu Sahasranama; otherwise bhajans at least till midnight.
- Paran: on Dwadashi after sunrise, once the Hari Vasar has passed and before the Dwadashi ends — first feeding a Brahmin/charity, then yourself with a Tulsi leaf.
Puja samagri checklist
The samagri is simple — the Gita book and yellow items are the main things.
- Picture of Vishnu/Lakshmi-Narayana or Shaligram, yellow cloth, wooden seat
- Shrimad Bhagavad Gita book
- Panchamrit (milk-curd-ghee-honey-sugar), Gangajal, Tulsi leaves
- Yellow flowers (marigold), sandalwood, roli, akshat, mauli
- Lamp (ghee), incense, camphor, aarti thali
- Fruit, yellow sweets (besan laddoo/saffron kheer), paan-supari
- Copper lota for tarpan, black sesame, kusha grass (if available)
- Charity: grain, blanket/woollens, jaggery-sesame, dakshina
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Open panchang →Vrat katha (the story)
King Vaikhanasa of the city of Gokul was righteous. One night he dreamt of his father suffering torment in hell. The anxious king asked the Brahmins; they sent him to the ashram of sage Parvata. The sage saw in meditation — the king's father had wronged his wife in a previous birth and was bearing its fruit.
The sage said — 'Keep the fast of Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi (Mokshada) with full vidhi and offer its merit to your father.' The king fasted with his family, kept the night vigil and gave the merit to his father; the father was freed from hell, went to heaven and blessed him from the sky. Since then this Ekadashi is called 'Mokshada' — the one that frees the vrati's ancestors.
Gita Jayanti — on this tithi at Kurukshetra, just before the war, Shri Krishna gave to Arjuna, sunk in delusion, that teaching of karma, bhakti and jnana in 700 verses which is the Gita — 'Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana'.
Ekadashi fasting food and bhog
Rice and grain are forbidden on Ekadashi; the bhog is yellow and sattvik. In the cold of Margashirsha, dry fruits and sesame-jaggery items are excellent fasting food.
- Bhog: saffron kheer (on Dwadashi) or milk-makhana, besan/boondi laddoos, fruit, panchamrit, Tulsi
- Fasting food: sabudana kheer/khichdi, singhara poori, potato, peanuts, almonds-walnuts, milk, fruit — rock salt
- Paran: Tulsi water, then daliya/khichdi or dal-rice (grain is essential on Dwadashi)
- Food in the ancestors' name to a cow, crow and dog (like the panch-bali) and to a Brahmin
- Elders and the unwell with fruit and milk, never waterless
Regional customs
Gita Jayanti and Mokshada — different colours from Kurukshetra to Braj and Odisha.
A custom, tale, song or dish heard from your grandmother — 2-4 lines; after reading we add it on this page with your region's name (the phone is never shown — only to ask you back).
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✅ Do
- Do speak the sankalp of offering the fast's merit to the ancestors — that is the special fruit of this Ekadashi
- At least one chapter of the Gita with the whole family
- Donate blankets/woollens — most useful in the cold of Margashirsha
- Paran within the Dwadashi, after the Hari Vasar
- Pluck Tulsi leaves a day earlier
❌ Don't
- Rice/grain, sleeping in the day, anger — avoided on Ekadashi
- Do not pluck Tulsi leaves on Ekadashi
- No paran after the Dwadashi has passed
- Do not keep the Gita book on the floor — on a seat/stand
- The unwell should not keep a waterless fast
Frequently asked questions
When is Mokshada Ekadashi in 2026?
The date at the top is this year's Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi — from panchang calculations; the Dwadashi for paran is shown too.
Are Mokshada Ekadashi and Vaikuntha Ekadashi the same?
South India's Vaikuntha Ekadashi is the Shukla Ekadashi of Dhanurmasa (solar Margashirsha) — in many years it is this very tithi, in some years the one in Pausha. North India uses the name Mokshada.
How to offer the merit of the fast to the ancestors?
At the end of the puja take water and sesame in your hand and say — 'May the merit of this fast reach my ancestors (names), may they attain moksha' — and release the water towards the south; along with it donate grain and clothes in their name.
Which chapter of the Gita to read?
If not the whole, the 12th (Bhakti Yoga, 20 verses) or the 15th (Purushottama Yoga, 20 verses) — short and essential; or the 2nd (Sankhya Yoga). Having children memorise verse 2.47 (Karmanye vadhikaraste) is a good custom.
When to do the Ekadashi paran?
On Dwadashi after sunrise, once the Hari Vasar (first quarter of Dwadashi) has passed and before the Dwadashi ends; usually between 7 and 9 am.
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⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; your own family custom comes first.
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