Prabodhinī Ekādaśī

Prabodhinī Ekādaśī, simply known as Prabodhini Ekadashi, Sanskrit: प्रबोधिनी एकादशी, Telugu: ప్రబోధిని ఏకాదశి, Hindi: प्रबोधिनी एकादशी.

Prabodhinī Ekādaśī, also called Haribodhinī or Utthānā Ekādaśī, falls on the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of Kārtika. It marks the end of the four-month yoga-nidrā (yogic sleep) of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the Milk Ocean, the time of Cāturmāsya. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 13 and 33, gives its origin through the account of Śaṅkhāsura.

A single fast on Prabodhinī equals thousands of horse-sacrifices and hundreds of Rājasūyas. Keeping awake (jāgaraṇa) on this night burns away pāpa gathered over thousands of births. The evening of Prabodhinī is also the time given for the Tulasī Vivāha.

Origin of Prabodhinī Ekādaśī

An asura named Śaṅkha, son of Sagara (the Ocean), defeated the devas. He took away the powers of Indra and of the Guardians of the Quarters. Then, while Bhagavān Vishṇu was asleep, he stole the Vedas from Brahmā in Satyaloka. The Vedas fled in fear into the waters, together with the seeds of the yajña-mantras.

Śaṅkha could not find the Vedas, and the devas prayed to Bhagavān Vishṇu. On the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of Kārtika the devas woke him with the auspicious sound of musical instruments and songs. Bhagavān Vishṇu arose and said:

“O groups of devas, I am the giver of varas (boons). On the eleventh day of the bright half of Kārtika I have been woken by you with the auspicious sound of musical instruments and songs. Therefore this tithi should be honoured. It is very dear to me.”

He then killed Śaṅkhāsura and recovered the Vedas with the help of the ṛshis at Prayāga. From that day he decreed that the Vedas rest in the waters every Kārtika.

Bhagavān Vishṇu had gone to sleep on the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of Śrāvaṇa, when Śaṅkhāsura was first killed. After that he slept in the Milk Ocean for the four rainy months. So the eleventh day of Kārtika marks his awakening. This is why it is called Prabodhinī (the awakening) or Haribodhinī (the awakening of Hari). This is from Chapters 13 and 33.

The supreme merit of Prabodhinī

Bhagavān Śiva describes Prabodhinī to Kārttikeya in these words:

  • The Gaṅgā and all the tīrthas, the oceans included, boast of their greatness only until the tithi of Prabodhinī of Bhagavān Vishṇu arrives in Kārtika.
  • One fast alone on Prabodhinī gives the benefit of thousands of horse-sacrifices and hundreds of Rājasūyas.
  • There is nothing in the three worlds that Prabodhinī cannot give when asked.
  • Haribodhinī easily gives all prosperity, children, knowledge, kingdom, happiness and riches, from a single fast.
  • A single fast burns away pāpa as large as the Meru and Mandara mountains.
  • Keeping awake at night on Prabodhinī burns away pāpa gathered in thousands of earlier births, like a heap of cotton.

This is from Chapter 33.

The Jāgaraṇa rite

The jāgaraṇa, the keeping awake on the night of Prabodhinī, is the central rite. Its proper parts are:

  • devotional songs, instrumental music and dance
  • reading of the Purāṇas
  • offerings of incense, lamps, food, flowers, sweet scents, unguents, fruits and arghyas
  • great faith, gifts in charity, control of the senses and truthfulness
  • no blaming of others, gaiety and good holy rites
  • nīrājana (waving of lamps) to Bhagavān Vishṇu every yāma (three hours)
  • bowing to Bhagavān Vishṇu and walking around him
  • full concentration of the mind all through the night

One who keeps this jāgaraṇa with devotion merges into the Paramātmā. One who worships Bhagavān Vishṇu with the Purushasūkta every day in the month of Kārtika gains the merit of worshipping Keśava for thousands of crores of years. This is from Chapter 33.

The awakening prayer

In the morning the devotee does the rite of prabodhana (awakening). He blows the conch, plays musical instruments, beats bherī drums, and adds flutes, lutes and mṛdaṅgas, dances and songs. The mantra of awakening:

“O Govinda, get up, wake up. O Bhagavān Vishṇu, whose banner bears Garuḍa, get up. O Beloved of Lakshmī, get up. Make the three worlds auspicious.”

After waking the Deva of devas, Bhagavān Vishṇu, and worshipping him, the rite of the marriage of Tulasī is done in the evening. This is from Chapter 33.

Rules for Ekādaśī and Dvādaśī

The Skanda Purāṇa gives these rules:

  • An Ekādaśī overlapped by Daśamī in the morning is to be avoided. Gāndhārī once fasted on such a day and her hundred sons died.
  • When the Dvādaśī day comes, all the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa and the like goes to cooked food. One who eats cooked food on the day of Hari eats only pāpa.
  • One who bathes in pañcagavya on Dvādaśī redeems the whole family.
  • On Dvādaśī in Kārtika the devotee should worship Dāmodara under the shade of a dhātrī tree. One who does so does not return to the earth even in hundreds and crores of kalpas.
  • Cooked pulse (legume) must be offered as naivedya on the Dvādaśī day. If it is not, the worshipper goes to naraka (hell).

This is from Chapter 33.

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 13, 33