Ekadashi Vrat - Vrat Vidhi
Ekadashi Vrat भगवान विष्णु
The twice-monthly Ekadashi fast for Bhagwan Vishnu - the most important of all Vaishnava vrats.
Vrat mantra
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
What you can eat - and what to avoid
You can have
- Phalahar only - fruits, milk and vrat foods (full nirjala on Nirjala Ekadashi for the able)
- Fruits and fresh fruit juices
- Milk, curd, paneer, butter, ghee
- Sabudana - khichdi, kheer or vada
- Kuttu (buckwheat) and singhara flour rotis / puris
- Samak (barnyard millet) rice
- Makhana, dry fruits and nuts
- Potato, sweet potato, arbi - cooked with sendha namak
- Sendha namak (rock salt) only
- Tea, coffee or coconut water in moderation
✗ Avoid
- Rice - traditionally avoided by the whole household on Ekadashi
- Grains and pulses in every form - the defining rule of Ekadashi
- All grains - wheat, rice, semolina (sooji), besan, oats
- Pulses and legumes - dal, chana, rajma, soy
- Regular table / sea salt (use only sendha namak)
- Onion and garlic
- Non-vegetarian food and eggs
- Alcohol and tobacco
- Heavy spices - keep to jeera, kali mirch, green chilli
Step-by-step vrat vidhi
Sankalpa - the vrat morning
Wake early, bathe and wear clean clothes. With water, akshat and a flower in the right palm, state your name, the vrat (Ekadashi Vrat), its count if it is a series, and your prayer - then release the water.
Morning puja
Bathe early and worship Bhagwan Vishnu with tulsi dal, yellow flowers, chandan, dhoop-deep and panchamrit, chanting "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya".
Keep the fast through the day
Keep the fast as prescribed - phalahar (or nirjala) · strict no-grain. Spend free moments in japa of "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya", and keep the mind sattvik: no anger, gossip or harsh speech.
Katha & evening puja
Keep the evening in bhajan-kirtan or Vishnu Sahasranama; read the katha of that particular Ekadashi and sing "Om Jai Jagdish Hare". Many devotees keep a night vigil (jagran).
Paran - breaking the fast
Next morning (Dwadashi), within the paran window after sunrise - break the fast with grains. Honour the paran time; it should not fall in Hari Vasara. See the Ekadashi Calendar on this site for exact paran times for your city.
Daan & prasad
Share the prasad with everyone present and give some daan (food, fruit or dakshina) as per capacity - the vrat is completed by giving.
Special rules for this vrat
- Do not pluck tulsi on Ekadashi - offer leaves plucked earlier.
- The paran (next morning) must be done within the prescribed window after sunrise - breaking the fast during Hari Vasara is avoided.
- If a full fast is hard, take one phalahar meal - the spirit is restraint and remembrance of Vishnu.
Family and regional traditions (parampara) vary - where yours differs, follow your parampara. Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone unwell or on medication should keep a softened vrat (fruit and milk) or skip it - a vrat is bhakti and restraint, never hardship to the body.
Choose another vrat
What is a Vrat Vidhi?
A vrat vidhi is how to keep a sacred fast: morning sankalpa, the deity's puja, the day's food discipline, the katha and aarti, and paran at the right time. Most vrats allow phalahar (fruits, milk, sabudana, kuttu, singhara, samak, sendha namak). Some are nirjala. Ekadashi drops grain; Santoshi Mata drops sour food; Ravivar vrat drops salt.
A vrat is bhakti and restraint, not hardship. Children, the elderly, pregnant women and the unwell should soften the fast. Parampara comes first. Pick a Dev or Devi for the day, fast type, food rules, paran, mantra, katha and aarti.
This is not a full puja manual. Worship steps are Puja Vidhi. Gather items from Puja Samagri. Read the story on Vrat Katha.
