Garuda Mahā Purana - Achara Khaṇḍa
127 - Sacred Rites (Vratas)
Brahma said:
1. Bhima undertook fast for a day on the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Magha, when there was the star Hasta too present.
2. After performing this wonderful Vrata he became free from the indebtedness to the Manes. This Bhimadvadashi is very famous and makes the merit of every one flourish.
3. Even when the Hasta star is not conjoined with the Ekadashi, the fast undertaken is so powerful as to remove the sin of slaying a brahmin. It removes all great sins like the bad king destroying his own realm.
4-8. A bad son destroys his family; a bad wife destroys her husband; virtue destroys evil; a bad minister destroys his king; ignorance destroys knowledge, purity destroys impurity, lack of faith destroys Shraddha; untruths destroy Truth; the heat destroys the effect of snow; hoarded wealth destroys illness, boasting destroys the merit of charity; haughtiness destroys the power of penance; absence of education spoils a boy; too much of walking destroys cattle; anger destroys mental peace, absence of means to increase it spoils wealth; knowledge destroys ignorance and absence of desire and attachment spoils the fruit. This auspicious Vrata is recommended for the destruction of all sins.
9-11. The sins of slaying a brahmin, drinking wine, stealing gold, illicit intercourse with preceptor's wife acquired simultaneously cannot be wiped off even if one makes pilgrimage to Pushkara three times (but this Vrata wipes them off). Neither Naimisha, Kurukshetra, Prabhasa nor Kalindi, Yamuna, Ganga, Sarasvati nor any of the other holy rivers, can equal this Ekadashi. Nor charitable gifts nor japa, nor homa nor any other sacred rite can equal this Ekadashi.
12. If on one pan the merit of making a gift of the whole world is placed and on the other pan the merit of this Vrata the latter alone will be found excellent.
13-14. A golden image of the Boar incarnation of the Lord should be placed in a copper vessel over another vessel. All grain seeds should be placed in it and the vessel shall be covered with a white cloth. With gold (for Dakshina) lamp, etc. the worship should be performed duly.
15-17. With the mantras specified the respective limbs should be worshipped duly:
Mantra Limbs
Obeisance to Varaha two feet
Obeisance to Krodakruti hip
Obeisance to Gabhiraghosha navel
Obeisance to Shrivatsadharin chest
Obeisance to Sahasrashiras arms
Obeisance to Sarveshvara neck
Obeisance to Sarvatman face
Obeisance to Prabhava forenead
Obeisance to Shatamayukha hair
After worshipping duly, the devotee shall keep awake during the night.
18. He should listen to the Puranas illustrating the greatness of the lord. In the morning gifts should be given to brahmins and beggars of auspicious nature.
19. Cloth bordered with gold should be given to brahmins. Meals at the completion of the Vrata should then be had but not upto satiety.
20. Even if the devotee does this only once he will not be born again to be suckled at the breasts of a mother. By fasting on Ekadashi days, the devotee is freed from the three debts. He will get everything he desires by this Vrata.
Summary of chapter 127 of the Garuda Mahā Purana - Achara Khaṇḍa is as follows:
Bhagavān Vishṇu outlines legal definitions and penalties for physical assault, bodily injury, and battery. As it happens, punishment scaled according to severity deters violence and preserves physical safety across society.