📖 Mokshada Ekadashi (Gita Jayanti) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the usual household Ekadashi vidhi — restraint from Dashami evening, fast-puja-Gita on Ekadashi, paran on Dwadashi.
How to do Mokshada Ekadashi (Gita Jayanti) — the steps
- 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
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
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ 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
Vrat katha
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 meditatio… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Mokshada Ekadashi in {Y}?
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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